An Easy Target
by Skylimit
Summary: After a fateful night, Alastair gets sucked into the worlds of Vampires and Vampeneze, one he thought hadn't existed until now. Spoilers up to the final book. Chapter 18 is up!
1. Easy Target

Vampires. 

Truth be told, I'd never really thought about Vampires. My mind wanders, sure but for some reason I never strayed to Vampires. I'd normally be thinking about guitar or school or something. And the closest I actually came to seeing Vampires was at Halloween when I had to answer the door and give out sweets to children. Nightmare! I'm not good with kids. 

Anyway, I said I never really thought about Vampires, but then I read that whole series of Darren Shan books. I'm a quick reader, and seeing as I'd been given all twelve of them in one day, I made short work of them. After that, the whole idea of them consumed my mind. I couldn't stop thinking about whether or not they existed, whether or not any of it could actually be true. I knew it was hopeless to think about it, but when I tried thinking about something else my mind would be pulled back to Vampires. 

Then, events started unravelling. Events I keep believing are some part of a larger dream that I'm about to wake up from. No-one will believe me of course, but I feel that I need to put this down in writing, to try and sort everything out and make sense of it all. If any of you can, don't hesitate to let me know. 

This whole thing started on a Tuesday evening. Every Tuesday I have a Guitar lesson at a Music Store where I spend an hour trying to iron out some weaker points of my guitar playing with varied success. Normally my mum picks me up after the lesson, but when I got out she wasn't there. I didn't panic. I remembered one time my mum had been really late because she'd been busy with work, so I waited. I didn't have a watch, but my MP3 had one, so I was frequently checking it. Five past. Quarter past. Half past. 

I growled. Where was she? I wasn't going to freeze my ass off in the cold to hear some sorry excuse about being held up! So I decided to go over to my dad's house. It's only about a fifteen minute walk from the shop, so soon I'd be in the warmth and could get my dad to take me back home. It sounded better than waiting, so I started walking. The night air was cold, but I didn't mind it so much when I was moving around. There were a few cars around here, but they were driving fast, wanting to get to wherever it was they wanted to be as quickly as possible. I passed several shops, but they were all pretty much shut or winding down. 

I lived in a small city. It seemed more like a town, but hey, I wasn't the one who chose to make the place seem more important. When we went shopping we still said we were going into town - it seemed weird saying you were going into the city. I went into reminiscent mode at that and thought about all the great times I'd had here, but it passed and soon I was focused on getting to my dad's house. 

And that's when something happened. 

I was walking past a deserted alleyway when I thought I heard two people talking. Normally I wouldn't have paid them any attention and not bothered to investigate, but one of the voices sounded like it was my mum's. It would explain why she hadn't picked me up, but what was she doing in an alleyway? I slowly crept forward, until I could see two outlines of people. Neither of them looked like my mum, so I was about to leave, when... "Where d'you think YOU'RE going?" I turned round to see where the rusty voice had come from and saw the two outlines terrifyingly close. Their faces were still shrouded by the shadows, but I could see that they were both wearing trenchcoats. As I willed my brain to think of a suitable excuse, one of the faces cupped their hands to their face and then pressed their hands on my mouth. I gagged as I started to feel woozy, and then I blacked out. 

When I woke up, I was still in the alleyway, but no-one was there. I tried to remember what I'd been doing lying down in an alleyway as events slowly formed in my mind. I'd seen two people - one of whom sounded like my mum - and one of them had knocked me out with their breath. I laughed at that. Someone knocking me out with their breath! I walked out of the alley and continued to make my way back to my dad's, still thinking about what had just happened. As far as I knew, only Vampires could knock out people and... 

Vampires. 

I froze on the spot. No way! Vampires were real?? I thought Darren Shan had just made them up! But they had shown one of their powers to me: knockout gas! My mind was whirring now. Was that it? Was that the last I'd seen of the Vampires? What if they started following me? What if they planned on sucking all of the blood out of my veins? I relaxed at that thought, then stiffened. Vampires don't kill when they feed, but Vampeneze do! Vampires and Vampaneze could breathe the knockout gas! An even worse thought crept into my mind...what if they were Vampaneze and had TARGETED me? I realised I had stopped and started walking quickly, not wasting any more time. I needed to get to my dad's house, where I'd be safe. It was an absurd notion, but otherwise I might have panicked and done something reckless and stupid. As I filled the distance between myself and my dad's house, my brain picked up speed. Vampires and Vampaneze existed...I could hardly believe it. 

_No._ A voice echoed in my head. _You've run into a group of people whose breath can knock people out. That's all! There is absolutely no proof that Vampires or Vampaneze exist! The books you've read that from are fiction!_ I was still hesitant, and thought about how it was too coincidental, but the small voice in my head put down that notion. _Which is more likely? There are people in the world who can knock people out, or Vampires and Vampaneze are real?_ That calmed me down, though I was still uncertain, I was able to think far more clearly than before. 

I finally reached my dad's house and pulled out a key, opening the door. I walked up the many stairs until I reached the top to where my dad lived. I opened the door to the landing and called out, but no-one was there. What was this, no parent day? I decided to call mum's house and see where she was. My little sister picked up the phone. 

"Hello?" She asked. 

"Hi, it's Alastair," I said monotonously. Her voice became bored as well. I didn't get on very well with my little sister, and I got the feeling she didn't get on very well with me either. 

"Oh, hi." 

"Is mum there?" 

"Yeah, she got held up making a hat for one of her customers." 

"Well, could you tell her to pick me up at dad's?" 

"Yeah, sure, bye." She hung up. I put the phone down and walked around a bit in the hall, waiting to be taken home. There was a mirror there and every time I passed it I looked at myself before walking on. I'm not really vain - I don't care what my hair looks like or what clothes I wear - but if there's a mirror I'll look at it. Not a very strong argument but anyway. I was looking at myself for the umpteenth time when I thought I saw something strange on my face. I turned the light on and took a closer look. At first I only saw what I normally saw: turquoise eyes, tons of spots littering my face, signs of a beard and moustache. But then I yelped as I saw something else. Three small scars on my cheek. _The sign that a Vampaneze has chosen you to have all your blood drained so that it can eat!_

Woohoo! Please read and review! Only with reviews can I make this better! 


	2. The Hunt

Eeep! Forgot to say in the last part that I don't own the Darren Shan...uh thing, but I do own new characters and such, and this applies for the rest of the fic (including first chapter.) Thanks, and enjoy! 

I couldn't stop thinking about the three scars on my cheek that seemed to be signalling my death. Mum had picked me up, but I hadn't said anything in the car, despite her usual attempts to get some conversation out of me. I'm not really the talkative type. 

What could I do? Vampaneze were stronger and faster than me and had their abilities at their disposal (such as the knockout gas that I fell victim to). The only way I'd be able to combat them would be to become a Vampire or Vampaneze.   
Trouble was, I had no idea where to look.   
I was tempted to try the alleyway again, but it wasn't likely that any Vampires or Vampaneze would be there, and it was more likely that those who I had encountered last time would be there. I wasn't sure that they were the ones who had marked me, but I had a pretty strong hunch. 

We got home and I raced up to my room, shut the door and fished out my old Darren Shan books. If anything could help me now, it was them. I couldn't find the second book, but I found the rest of them and started skim reading them to try and pinpoint any weaknesses they had. The only one I picked out was that they wouldn't last very long in sunlight, and they almost never kill in their victim's house. I thought that maybe I could stay here forever, they'd eventually give up and...   
No. They ALMOST never killed in someone's house. If they got tired of waiting, they would. My mind didn't help by showing me my corpse in all its glory, but I tuned that out by thinking practically. The only way out of this that I could think of was to convince a Vampire or Vampaneze to blood me, as I would no longer be a human and my blood would be poisonous to whoever it was that had marked me. Not only that, but I'd be able to fight the Vampaneze on equal footing. There were problems though. Even if I did find a Vampaneze (though I was hoping I'd find a Vampire - Vampaneze kill when they feed but Vampires don't) I was only 16. According to the books, blooding children was frowned upon, but I figured that I was technically an adult, and if that failed at trying to convince them to make me a full Vampire/Vampaneze I could become a Vampire or Vampaneze assisstant, meaning I'd be a Half-Vampire or Half-Vampaneze. It also said that I wouldn't be able to have children, but I didn't find that much of a problem. If I wanted one, I'd adopt one. If I died then I wouldn't be able to have children either! With the one solution clear to me, I now had the tricky task of finding a Vampire or Vampaneze. I was lucky in the sense that I was on school holiday, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to search so freely! 

The next day I woke up early, meaning to start looking, when I realized that the Vampires and Vampaneze wouldn't be awake! It didn't seem so much of a problem the more I thought about it, as they wouldn't be moving. I could find where one of them was, then wait 'till dark (it was winter, so it wouldn't be so much of a wait) and then confront them. Then I thought of another problem. Vampires and Vampaneze avoided cities and places where humans went, unless they had to feed. That meant I'd probably ONLY see them at night, and they'd be doing their best to avoid being seen. Even if I did see one, I'd have to be careful not to let them knock me out, otherwise I couldn't explain my dilema to them. I left a note on the kitchen table saying I would be out all day, and then started walking into the city centre. 

The first day yielded no luck. I was constantly checking where I had first seen the creatures of the night, but with no success. I read through the third Darren Shan book to see if it could tell me how long I had to search, but I don't remember it ever giving an exact amount of time. I'd just have to be hopeful. 

The annoying voice in my head protested that I could have scratched myself when I was asleep and not noticed it, but I ignored the voice. This time it seemed more likely that Vampires and Vampaneze existed when I put the two clues together, and despite the voice's protestings it eventually gave up. Two more days passed without any luck. On Saturday, as I prepared for another day of searching, I heard my mum knock on the door of my room and enter. I knew she would have something already rehearsed so I listened to her speech. She was asking why I was spending three days in a row in town. Thinking quickly I spun her a quick story that my friends had now started a tradition where from Wednesday to Saturday (of this week) we spent all day hanging out. Mum was skeptical, but seeing as I didn't hang out with my friends often she eventually became convinced and let me go. 

That got me thinking. If I was unable to find someone to help and ended up dead, would the creature of the night after me stop with just one person, or go after my whole family? Admittedly there was only me, my little sister and my mum where I was staying but it might be really hungry for blood. My stomach whirled around as I thought about this, but it only willed me on to find a Vampire (or Vampaneze if the situation got desperate) and become blooded. I wasn't thinking about what would happen afterwards, as my mind was totally focused on the search. If I had thought ahead, I'm not sure I would have continued. 

The day passed with still no signs of finding someone who would blood me. I got desperate and searched the internet to see if I could find anything to help me. I remember reading about Vampire Hunters in one of the books, and while I didn't want to KILL Vampires or Vampaneze, it might help me track them more easily. Sadly, I found nothing. 

Later, up in my room, I was lying on my bed and thinking hard. How could I find a Vampaneze or Vampire? They were faster and could move more quietly than me.   
_They don't exist._ I ignored the small voice in my head, but it persisted. _It's a book for god's sake, and because two COINCIDENCES happen you're convinced that the Vampaneze are after you. Get a hold of yourself!_ I tuned out the voice, but doubt was forming at the back of my mind. It had been two coincidences, but because they'd been relatively close together, I'd partnered them up as a whole idea. I might have banged my head on something for the first one, and scratched myself for the second. It wasn't a very convincing arguement, but it did put my mind at rest. I looked at the bedside clock and decided to go to sleep. I wouldn't stop the search until I was entirely sure, but I wasn't going to worry about it as much. 

Of course, soon after I was proven wrong. 


	3. Meeting and Plans

Three nights after my second thoughts, I met a Vampire. 

I had gone to the same alleyway every time I searched. I figured that it was the only place I had seen either a Vampaneze or a Vampire so it was more likely I'd see one there. And I was right. As I moved into the alleyway, I saw someone leaning against the wall and looking at me. I knew that it probably wouldn't be a Vampire or Vampaneze, but my body stiffened none the less. As I approached, the man's head whirled round to face me. I froze and for a few moments there was no sound. Then the man spoke. 

"Why do you keep sniffing around here?" He stepped closer, and while I couldn't get a good look at his face, I saw him give a small smirk. "Want payback for the last time?" 

"Y...y...you're a...Vampaneze??" I whispered the last word. The man grunted in response. 

"Me? A Vampaneze? Nah, I'm a Vam...wait a second!" He growled. "How d'you...oh wait. Of course. You've read the books." 

"Books?" I asked, momentarily forgetting about the resources that had helped me learn about Vampires. 

"Don't play dumb with me!" The man snapped, though it seemed a little forced, as though he wasn't normally like this. "The Darren Shan Books. 'Course, that wasn't his real name." 

"What was his name?" I asked. I seemed to be handling the fact that I was going to a Vampire to save me from a Vampaneze pretty well, though in all honesty I'd forgotten about that while I talked to the man. I was talking to a Vampire. A real one! 

"I'm not telling someone who isn't one of us! I'm only here because I'm curious. Why do you keep coming here?" My reason fell into place in my head, and I stared the man straight in the eye. 

"I need to be blooded." I said simply. The man burst out laughing. 

"What? Is that the only reason? What a waste of..." 

"I need to be blooded so that I can kill a Vampaneze." I interupted the man. "He marked me. I don't know when he's going to kill me, but it's already been a week. It's only a matter of time. This isn't just for me. I want to protect my family from harm." I didn't get along with most of my family, but we were related by blood, and that was all that mattered. I still wasn't 100 percent sure that the Vampaneze WOULD kill the rest of them, but couldn't take the risk. The man grinned and stood up straight. 

"That's more like it!" He rubbed his hands together. Then his face fell slightly. "Just one problem. You'll have to kill the Vampaneze without being blooded. 

"What??"I yelled. "That's the only reason I came to ask to be blooded, so that I could match the Vampaneze on even terms!" The man shrugged. 

"If you kill the Vampaneze while you have Vampire blood in your veins, you'll be hunted down. You did read the books properly, didn't you?" I groaned as I remembered. 

"D'you think you could help me?" I asked quietly. I didn't expect him to say yes. After all, I didn't have anything he wanted. Then he slowly smiled again. 

"I could help you...but for a price." He took another step forward, but his features were still hidden by the shadows. "You're not as straightforward as you appear," he commented. "When you asked for help, I thought you were trying to save your own skin. You also added that you wanted to save your family. But a part of you wants to do it to protect, and I'm suprised that you were so willing to do this, to ask to be blooded. It shows courage." He paused. "I am not entirely convinced, though maybe seeing how you react..." The rest of his words were muttered so I couldn't hear them. "Alright!" He looked me straight in the eyes. "I will help you kill this Vampaneze." I almost leapt for joy when I realized it wouldn't be as straightforward as that. "In return, you will travel with me as my assistant." I tried to protest, when I realised that either way, I would have had to travel with him. If he had agreed to blood me, I would not have been able to turn back, and might die if I was not taught more about Vampires. This way was more forced, but it was obvious now to me there was no escaping this fate. I could have tried to take on the Vampaneze without the man's help, but deep down I knew I would be killed before I could lay a punch. 

"How come you want an assistant?" I blurted out. The man gave a genuine smile. 

"It gets lonely travelling by myself. I don't want to travel to Vampire Mountain, I prefer the open road. I admit that I'm not keen on the idea of having an assistant, but this solution fits both of our needs. You want to kill this Vampaneze, and I want a travelling companion. Bear in mind that I will only guide you. I will not participate in the killing." I nodded. I didn't really like the idea, but what choice did I have? "Alright. Meet me here tomorrow at around the same time. I'll tell you where to find him then." I turned to leave, but then turned back. I expected him to be gone as soon as I had turned round but he was still there. 

"How do you know which Vampaneze marked me?" I asked. 

"I wondered when you were going to ask that." The man said. "After I knocked you out with the Knockout Gas..." 

"So you knocked me out, and not the Vampaneze?" I interrupted. The man nodded and continued. 

"...I finished my business there and was about to leave when out of the shadows stepped a Vampaneze. He marked you and then hid in the shadows to follow you back to your home. He was too focused on you to pay any attention to me." 

"And what was your business?" I couldn't help but ask. 

"Three guesses, genius." 

"Blood?" The man nodded. I felt queasy, but knew I'd have to get used to the notion. I still had one more question left, but felt a little foolish for asking it. "How do I know you're really a Vampire?" I asked. 

"Other than knocking you out with my breath, I can do...this!" He seemed to teleport and appear right beside me, then raced back before I could get a good look at his face. "Proof enough?" I was a little shaken but nodded and walked off. 

That night I lay in bed. I was a little dazed at the fact that I had met a real vampire, but I was more concerned about finding the Vampaneze. I was suprised at how well I was handling this. I had never killed someone before and I thought I would be a nervous wreck! But I was calm, and wondered whether I fully understood exactly what I was going to do. It was hard to imagine, that once the deed was done, I would become a Vampire! Only a half-one to start with, but I was more concerned about leaving my family behind. No doubt we would need to fake my death through some form or another, but I would never see my family or friends again. I played that thought over and over until tears welled in my eyes. I wiped them away and looked out of the window. I tried to think positively. I'd be going off on a journey to god knows where, learning about the new talents I would possess. 

The positives of the situation eventually left my head, and I was faced with the fact that I'd have to kill, be killed and leave the place I had called home. The man who I'd talked to seemed nice enough, but I didn't even know his name. I grimaced when I thought I'd have centuries to know him. Centuries! I could live to be around 500, maybe more! I couldn't help but wish that I wasn't as brave as I was, or that I had never entered the alleyway. That set me off on a new train of thoughts. I probably wouldn't be able to play Guitar anymore, certainly not get lessons. When I thought about other things I might miss, they didn't seem as bad. Maybe I could convince the man to let me take along an Acoustic Guitar? I laughed inwardly, then turned off the light and tried to get to sleep. 


	4. The Deed

Just like to say thanks to my first reviewer, and now dialogue will have line spacing. Enjoy! 

When I woke up, my head was buzzing with last night's events. Meeting a Vampire, the deal and now I knew that Vampires and Vampaneze existed. The little voice in my head was no longer spouting out comments that could dissuade me from my task. After all, how could it explain what had happened? I then realised that my holidays were over, and got up to get ready for school. 

For all the time at school I was keyed up about what would happen in the evening, when the Vampire would tell me where to find the Vampaneze that had marked me. He had told me that he would only show me where the Vampaneze was, but I didn't consider that so much of a problem. Find where he is and kill him while he sleeps. It wasn't honourable, but in a fair fight I stood absolutely no chance whatsoever. I was only vaguely paying attention to what we were learning, not only because my mind was distracted, but also because I knew that if I was successful in killing the Vampaneze, I would have to leave my hometown. I wouldn't have to worry about learning anything from school! I thought that thought might cheer me up, but then I glumly noted to myself that school wasn't actually that bad, and I'd no longer be able to see the friends I'd made throughout my school life. 

I had a hard time convincing my Mum to let me out in the evening. It was a school night, she protested, and I should be doing work! I couldn't help but laugh inwardly at this. School? I wouldn't have to worry about school no matter what the outcome of this was. Eventually I convinced her that a friend of mine was going to help me with my work. It wasn't easy: she kept asking about who my friend was, where they lived, how long I would be (I didn't know the answer to that one, so I made something up). In actual fact I made up everything, as I didn't know anyone who lived near where I was going. Mum offered to drive me. I tried protesting but she was having none of it, so I convinced her to drop me off at the Music Shop where I had my lessons where I would meet my friend. When we got there I thought for a horrifying moment she was going to wait for my friend to show up, but then she slowly drove away. I started walking towards the alleyway that had begun this new chapter in my life. Who knew it would end up being so important? Not me, that's for sure. 

I entered the alleyway and saw the man standing in the same position as our last meeting. 

"Good, you're here," he mumbled. He didn't sound happy, but he had agreed to this, and I would make sure he saw it through. 

"Do you know who the Vampaneze is?" I asked. He nodded. 

"His name..." The man paused. "Well, I guess you don't really care about names just now. He lives in the basement of one of the houses around here." The man chuckled quietly at that. "How he was able to avoid detection from humans I'll never know." He looked me right in the eye. 

"Which house is it?" I asked. 

"If you just follow the pavement as you go out, walk away from the City Centre and follow the pavement, don't cross the road. He lives in the first house on the left, in the basement." He chuckled again at this. My body had stiffened now that I knew exactly where this Vampaneze was. When it was daytime, I would have to kill someone. I knew that I couldn't postpone. If I did, the Vampaneze might come after me. The man was making to leave when I stopped him with a question. 

"What's your name?" He turned round. 

"My name's Michael. What's yours?" 

"Alastair." He nodded. 

"Well, Alastair, come back here when the deed's done. I'll be waiting." Then he vanished. 

I shivered as I waited for my mum to pick me up. Not because of the cold, but because of the realization that soon I would be a killer! Even worse was how was I going to do it?? The sun only started showing at about 8 in the morning, around the time I'd be going to school, and the sun set at around 6 in the evening. I would have to find an opportunity in that time to get to the house and do the deed. Feigning sickness was out of the question. My mum wouldn't let me go out if I told her I was ill! I would have to think of a suitable excuse, but thankfully one was already forming in my head. When my mum picked me up I asked her if I could go round to "study" with my "friend" tomorrow as I had finally understood something which I hadn't before. My mum seemed pleased when I told her this, but said that she'd be at work until 5 tomorrow. Luckily my dad was able to pick me up from school at 3:35 so I'd have plenty of time. 

Later in the evening, I had picked out my weapon: a kitchen knife. I had problems thinking about how it was going to survive a school day, but I knew I'd think of something by the morning, and let my mind wander once again. It didn't take long for it to think about my big sister and my dad. They were the opposites of mum and my little sister in terms of me connecting with them and I got on great with those two. My big sister was down in London at a University or College (I could never remember which) so I didn't speak to her as much as I'd have liked, but my dad lived pretty close by so we could talk a lot. I pondered as to why I didn't really communicate much with my little sister and my mum. I tried, but it was like something was holding me back. Even when I did succeed, I realized that we didn't have very much to talk about that both sides were interested in. I looked glumly up at the ceiling as I made a commitment to myself to do my best to leave a good impression before I had to leave them. I shook my family out of my thoughts as my friends came into my mind. I'd never see them again either, and I knew that I would have to leave a good impression on them as well. Then I returned to business and finally thought of a suitable way to get the knife into school. I rolled over, though I knew that tonight I wouldn't get much sleep. Nevertheless I tried my heart out, and eventually drifted off when the house was silent. 

The next morning I was yawning like crazy, but inside I was wide awake. School passed in a blur, and before I knew it I was in the car with my dad, on the way to see my friend who didn't exist. My dad dropped me off and told me to stop by his house on the way back so he could give me a lift. I thanked him and slowly walked up to the house. I looked on as I remembered a time I had lived in one of these old houses. Thankfully, the Vampaneze was not occupying the house I had stayed in. I approached the door and turned the handle, suprised to see it open. I walked in and shut the door. I gave my eyes time to adjust to the darkness and then slowly walked along the house until I saw some stairs leading downwards. I took off my shoes and walked down, picking up splinters but ignoring them (it wasn't until later that I realised that the same thing had happened to Darren Shan, except he was there to steal a spider. I was there to kill.) When I reached the bottom I nearly turned round and ran at the sight of a coffin. My nerves held, only just, and I approached. The lid was off, and I thanked some higher power as I don't know whether or not I would have had the nerve to pull the lid off. I looked down and saw the Vampaneze, sleeping peacefully. I brought out my knife and hung it in the air, hesitating. As soon as I brought it down, I would have killed and would become a half-vampire later. If I didn't, myself and possibly my family would be killed. I shook aside all other thoughts, and brought the knife down, right into the Vampaneze's heart! 


	5. Final Moments of the First Life

I immediately knew that the Vampaneze was not dead. Blood gushed up out of the wound I had inflicted, but the Vampaneze's eyes shot wide open and looked at me. I gasped and fell back as the Vampaneze got up, struggling to pull the knife out. If he did, I knew I would be in trouble, so I ploughed into him and we both fell to the floor. I shut my eyes and started moving the knife around in the Vampaneze's body, hoping to put an end to this nightmare. The Vampaneze screamed in pain and tried to shove me off but I held on, unable to see but knowing what I was doing. Finally the screaming stopped. I opened my eyes and saw the Vampaneze lying on the ground. Blood was everywhere, and some had managed to spray itself all over clothes and face. I got up, shaking my head and staring down at the Vampeneze. I knew that I would have to make doubly sure that the Vampaneze was dead, so I shut my eyes, took out the knife and stabbed again. The Vampaneze was dead. I relaxed, then realised that I would have to do something about my clothes. My school clothes! I gasped as I realised the stupid mistake I had made. Luckily I had left my Blazer in my dad's car, and I had spare trousers, ties and shirts. I relaxed. I took off my tie and attempted to wipe off some of blood from my shirt. The trouser stains were not as noticable, but I scrubbed them down as well. I walked back up the stairs and picked up my shoes, then looked around to see if there was a tap. Luckily for me, there was and it worked, so I spent the next few minutes removing the evidence from my clothes. I would now have to explain why my clothes were wet, but that would be far easier to explain than why I had blood on my clothes! I walked to the door and opened it a fraction to see if anyone was around. Seeing no-one, I walked out and made my way to my dad's. 

When I got there I explained that my friend's sprinkler had gone beserk and sprayed me, and thankfully he believed me. We dried my clothes and I told him that I was going back to keep studying, but I needed clean clothes, so we stopped by my mum's house as I picked some casual clothes and then my dad drove me back to the city centre. I thanked him, then walked into the alleyway and waited. 

Not too long afterwards, Michael showed up. I approached him. 

"So, you did the deed then?" He asked. I nodded slowly. My mind was mixed up with emotions. Fear that I'd be found out, resignation that I'd now have to give up my mortality, sadness as I thought of who I'd be leaving behind...those were the only ones that I could pick out, though many more were passing through my brain. 

"It's done." I said, which made the task sound final. Michael walked up to me. 

"You know that we can't have children, we age slower, need blood etc.?" He asked and I nodded."I take it you know how we blood people?" He asked. 

"Yeah," I said. "You dig your fingertips into my...OWW!" I pulled back as I realized he had already cut open the skin right below my fingertips while I was talking. "That was a cheap trick." I muttered. Michael laughed. 

"It would have been worse if you were waiting for it." He took my fingers and pressed my ten wounds against his ten which he'd just opened up. For a few moments I was fine. Then it really started to hurt. I gasped as I felt the blood going through my veins, passing through my heart before leaving and going into Michael's. With each second that passed the pain became more intense. Sure, I'd read that it was painful, but jeez! This was something different. Just when I thought I was going to pass out, Michael broke the contact. I swayed woozily, then blacked out. 

When I came to, Michael was looking down on me, slightly worried. His face relaxed when he saw my eyes open. 

"I don't feel so great." I muttered. Michael laughed and helped me up. 

"You'll feel better when it sets in. Now, you know what we have to do next, yeah?" I nodded. 

"You have to "kill" me." He nodded. "How much time will I have before I'm killed?" 

"Sunday. Are you going to be able to say your goodbyes by then?" I nodded. 

"Do you think I'd be able to leave a note? Y'know, saying goodbye one more time?" He shook his head sadly. 

"Best not to. Otherwise they might think it was premeditated." 

"But I don't want to have an autopsy performed on me! Can I not say I don't want one?" Michael paused. 

"Hmm...Well, we don't want them to cut you up. Okay," He didn't sound very happy but he knew it would be for the best. "You may as well tell them that you want to be buried as soon as possible." I nodded slowly. 

I spent the rest of the week saying my silent goodbyes. With my friends it was relatively easy as I saw them at school. They were a little suspicious of me saying that they were great friends, but I shrugged it off by saying that I realized that I hadn't said it, and thought they should know. It was cheesy but it did the job. I spoke to my big sister on the phone and spent about an hour just talking. Whenever she tried to hang up I brought up something else, hoping to keep her on forever. I was tempted to tell her about what was going to happen to me, but I resisted and hung up sadly. I went over to my dad's and talked to him for a while. I diverted the topic to the future and said that when I died I didn't want an autopsy if anything weird happened to me, and I wanted to be buried straight away. Dad tried to stop me talking about it, but I pressured him to agree to it, and he did. I wasn't happy that I'd brought an uncomfortable topic up, but I knew it was necessary. I also talked to my mum about the same thing. She took it more seriously and thought someone was out to kill me, but I convinced her I was thinking of the future, as one of my friend's relatives had just died. I did my best to talk as much as I could with my mum, trying to bridge the impossible gap. I didn't bridge it completely, but I did bring us a little closer. My little sister was much more difficult to talk to. When I tried talking to her she simply asked what I wanted, and when I told her I wanted to talk, she looked at me like I was an alien. I forced the conversation though, until she told me to leave. For the end of the week I hung out with my friends, talking about all the great times we'd had. I spent the last day with my mum, and when the day ended I felt like I was going to lose my cool and tell her. I kept myself in check, and walked sadly up to my room, where Michael was waiting for me. 

"Your room's very small." He noted. 

"My mum offered for me to swap rooms with one of my sisters, but I liked this room." Michael nodded. 

"Did you tell them?" He asked. I nodded. 

"I just hope they remember. Should I write a note?" I asked. Michael was hesitant. "I don't want to die for real," I said quietly. Michael closed his eyes, and nodded once. I wrote a small note on a scrap of paper and put it on my bed. I then walked up to my bedside table and took a small note. Michael looked at it curiously. 

"What's that?" He asked. 

"It's a note my big sister gave me when she left for Florida." I muttered quietly. "I...I didn't feel sad when she left. For London. I was happy for her. I'm still happy for her. I hope she'll still be happy after this." I shook my head. Michael handed me a small bottle, which I knew would slow my system down to make me look and feel dead. I drank it quickly, and after about ten minutes when I felt paralyzed Michael walked up to me and snapped my neck, and I got an extreme sense of deja vu as I remembered reading this in the first Darren Shan book. Tried and tested I guessed. Michael threw me through the window and I landed on the ground. I kept my eyes shut and groaned inwardly as I realized that I'd have to listen to all of my family members mourning. I kept my eyes shut so I wouldn't have to see as I heard the front door opening to see what had happened. I heard my mum scream in anguish, but I tuned it out, and tried to think about the note I had written. 

_Hello. _

I never said this properly before, but I love all of you. I mean it. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. My only request is that there not be an autopsy performed on me, and that I am buried as soon as is possible, even if that means I don't get a funeral. I was never much of the religious type, but I would like to be buried, but not cremated. I don't want you lot to sulk and mourn: I wouldn't want that, and I would never be happy if you did. Once again, I love you. 

It was cheesiness to a whole new level, and it was very direct, but I needed to say it. Otherwise I would not have been able to go on with my life. My new life as a Vampire. 


	6. In Between

I don't want to have to retell what happened between me dying and Michael digging me up. But I want to make this as full as possible. I don't want to miss anything out, no matter how painful it may be.

Mum brought me into the house and phoned the ambulence. My little sister went up to my room and found the note, which she showed Mum. Mum burst into further tears, saying something about her knowing that something was wrong. I couldn't feel anything at that point, so I just lay there, eyes closed, wondering what was going to happen. I felt someone stroking my hair (my mum I was guessing) while I didn't hear anything from my sister.

Eventually the ambulence came and I was carted away. I didn't know whether or not my mum or sister was in the ambulence with me, but if they were they were being incredibly silent. It didn't take us long to reach the hospital, where it took us even less time for the doctors to announce that I was dead. I heard my Mum entering the room I was in, and saying that the family didn't want an autopsy to be performed. I secretly thanked her for saying that, and also for not being suspicious of my death. She probably thought it was suicide. Dad came a bit later, and I heard them talking, occasionaly sounding like they were going to cry, but that was more my mum than dad. They talked about my funeral and were both shocked when they realised I had talked to both of them about this. They didn't protest though, they respected my "final wishes".

I wasn't really sure what happened after that. I drifted in and out of sleep, occasionaly hearing a voice talking about me, or nothing at all. I didn't know where I was, or anything like that, until I heard someone talking about me, about how I'd been a good boy. This is my funeral, I thought to myself. I didn't know who was there, but I didn't want to think about it, otherwise I might get choked up with emotion.

I wondered whether or not anyone would be suspicious. After all, I wasn't the only one in my school year who'd read the books. I don't think they'd have paired them up though: they didn't have enough information to do that. That was probably my biggest worry, that the game would be given away before I was buried. Thankfully, I didn't hear anyone say anything of the sort during my funeral. After some more talking, I felt my coffin being lifted, and being carried towards the graveyard. I'd recovered most of my senses, and I felt awful. I was in pain everywhere, and somehow I didn't think I was as lucky as Darren Shan had been.

Darren Shan...were it not for his books, I would have ignored the three marks on my cheek. I might have really died if I hadn't known what they meant! I owed a lot to those books. I remember reading them, and thinking stupidly that it could be true. Now I knew it WAS true, and I could hardly believe that I was now a creature of the night. In daydreams I'd had I always thought it would be cool to be one, but now faced with the prospect I realised it wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I felt myself being lowered into the hole that was to become my temporary residence. I smiled at that for some reason, then almost leapt up when there was a giant thud on the top of the coffin. I relaxed when I realised that it was only earth, and waited as I imagined the earth piling on top of me. Then there was silence.

I tried going to sleep, but I was aching too much. I sighed as I knew that nothing had been broken. There hadn't yet been the chance to see how much damage had been done, but I knew I'd be in a lot more pain if something had been broken. I remembered that there wouldn't be a lot of air in the coffin, so I didn't roll over or take deep breaths. I simply thought about what was going to happen to me now. My brain couldn't remember all of the things that Vampires could do, but I remembered that as a half-vampire, I could still survive in sunlight and didn't need as much blood. I was stronger and faster than anyone my age that was human, and my nails would become extremely deadly as they were capable of gouging holes in rock! My teeth would be a lot more powerful, and my eyesight would improve, but other than that, I couldn't remember much else. Needless to say, I spent several more hours thinking about stuff before I heard someone digging. Not much longer after that, the coffin lid was lifted and Michael was looking down on me.

"How was your first taste of a coffin then?" He asked in a much more friendly voice than I'd heard him. He seemed more relaxed now, like he'd been putting on a facade before. He helped me stand up and checked me to see if I had broken anything, which I was pretty sure I hadn't. He stopped examining me and nodded to me. "Nothing's broken, so that's good! That's always one of the risks you run."

"I'm just glad my family didn't want an autopsy!" I grinned. Michael's face darkened.

"Y'know, it's a good thing you did write that note. It made it seem like suicide, and if the police thought you'd been murdered or something, they could have carried out the autopsy regardless of your parent's wishes."

"What?" I gasped. I didn't know that! I was glad that everything had turned out okay though. Well, as okay as it could be in my situation. Michael seemed to notice I was upset.

"Don't worry yourself, Al!" He said, patting me on the back. "This'll be a great adventure, and you don't seem like the type to pass up on that!" I noticed now that he had a hint of a Scottish accent on him, and warmed to him a bit.

"I just wish I'd been able to take one of my Acoustic Guitars with me," I grinned. "We could have used some music on this trip!" Michael also grinned at this.

"Aye, I noticed you had some Guitars kicking about! We couldn't have taken one of yours - that would have raised suspicion - but we could see if we could get one a bit later. Maybe. For now, we should hit the road!" I nodded. I'd miss this place, but I figured in time my human life would be a pleasent memory. I was a little suprised that I was so quick to think of myself as a half-vampire, but I guessed that it wasn't a bad thing.

"Well..." I gulped. "Let's go." With that we walked off into the darkness, with me leaving behind everything a knew to leap into a world I had no idea about.

Well, ALMOST no idea about.


	7. On the Road

"Will you stop humming that tune!" I grinned and tried humming the tune under my breath, but to Michael it sounded like I was singing it loud and clear. "I can still hear you, you know! You're not going to get a Guitar if you keep this up!" I stopped humming and smiled innocently. Michael looked at me and burst out laughing.

We'd been travelling for three weeks now, and I was amazed at how quickly I was getting used to the idea of being a Vampire. Drinking blood had been...weird, but I soon got over it. I was glad that I had a mentor like Michael though. He was light hearted and made our travels seem better than they actually were, considering it was mostly walking. He'd cheered me up in the first few days when I was homesick, and gradually we got accustomed to each other. We'd just passed a small town to feed when I asked Michael about if we would be going to Vampire Mountain. After all, I thought that all newly blooded Vampires and half-Vampires had to be presented to the council. He pondered the question before answering.

"Let's see...how old are you now?"

"In human years or Vampire years?" I joked before answering. "I'm 16." He seemed deep in thought.

"Well, Vampire Council's due until about seven years. We could wait until the next council though, just to build you up a bit more."

"What's wrong with being 17 in time for the council? Isn't that old enough?" I asked. He shook his head.

"We consider people to be adults when they're 18, so no. We could go if you wanted, but I don't think the Vampire Generals and Princes would approve."

"But wouldn't they still ask when I'd been blooded?" I asked. Michael grimaced.

"Aye...but at least you'd be a bit stronger for the next one." I thought about this. Waiting nineteen years to go to Vampire Council, might not be so bad, but in my eyes seven would be enough.

"We should go to this one." I announced. "I think I'd be capable in seven years. Waiting nineteen would only make me a little bit more competent."

I guess..." He muttered. He slouched a bit, then straightened up. "Oy! I'm the one who decides what we do, not you!" He yelled jokingly. Then he became serious. "We'll go to the next Vampire Council. What you say makes sense. I just don't really want to be stuck in a mountain with a bunch of..." He stopped and looked at me. "Forget I said that, okay?"

"Forget you said what?" I asked innocently, as we walked on.

We spent the next three years travelling around the world, with Michael teaching me a lot about Vampires. Gradually I was feeling a lot more competent with my abilities, and sometimes tested them out just to see if I was still up to scratch. Me and Michael became a lot closer, and soon had a whole bunch of in jokes, and we were able to know what the other was about to say.

I'd never had a friendship like it, and whenever I felt even the slightest bit lonely, I thought about all the great times I'd had with Michael, and all the great times still to come. I also thought about Vampire Mountain, and what they would think of me. Sure they'd accepted Darren Shan, or whatever his real name was, but would they accept me? They would probably "test" me like they'd tested Darren. I'd had a bit more time than Darren Shan though, so I didn't feel so bad when I thought about the near future.

We stopped at a City a few months later. I wondered why we were going into civilisation when we had fed just two nights earlier, but then a thought crept into my mind.

"Hey Mike," I said. Michael looked sideways at me.

"Hey Al," He replied.

"We're not here to get a Guitar, are we?" Michael feigned suprise.

"What would give you an idea like that?" He asked, before grinning. I could feel a smile creeping up the side of my face, threatening to cover my whole face. After a few more minutes of walking, we stopped outside a music shop. I looked at Michael with awe.

"Seriously??" I asked. He nodded.

"Seriously."

I didn't have much experience with picking out Guitars, but Michael seemed to, and soon we were walking out of the store with a Guitar and a Guitar case. I had to stop myself from jumping up and down, I was that happy.

"So, we're finally going to see your skills, eh?" Michael asked. I grinned slyly.

"You seemed to know a lot about Guitars as well." I stated. "How long have you been playing?" He thought about that.

"Hmm, I started when I was a Vampire...about...how long ago was it? Must've been about 50 years ago."

"Nice!" I paused. "You know, you seem to act as though you were born around the same time I was." Michael nodded.

"I've been staying in Cities more often, and I made some friends and picked up on a few things." He pulled a face. "I just hope we don't end up getting stuck in Vampire Mountain."

"Why would we get stuck there?" I asked.

"One of my friends there is trying to make me become a general. I've never given in to her, but she's so pushy..." He looked at me and saw that I was trying not to smile. "What?"

"You never told me you had a girlfriend!" I said innocently.

"What? Get real, Ali!" I could tell he didn't mind the teasing. "She has a crush on me, but someone else likes her, and I don't want to be caught up in a love triangle. Now c'mon!" He said before I could respond to his comment. "Let's go find somewhere quiet and play some Guitar!" We quickened our pace.

It turned out that Michael was amazing at Guitar. I didn't expect him to be bad - after all, he had been playing for 50 years - but I didn't expect him to be that good! He didn't play too fast, for fear that he might break the Guitar.

"I used to have one with me," he said as he played. "But one night I played it a bit too quickly and it broke. We're probably going to have to put this one somewhere when we go to Vampire Mountain." He paused. "On the other hand, I wonder how long it's been since a Guitar has been used in Vampire Mountain?"

"Probably never," I commented, watching him play. "I don't suppose you could teach me how to play Guitar better, could you?" He nodded enthusiasticaly.

"I've never taught someone before! This should be fun!" And thus, every night after learning more about Vampires, I had Guitar Lessons.

The next night Michael carried the Guitar on his shoulders. I asked him a lot of questions about Guitar playing, and he relished in answering them. When we stopped to sleep I played a few songs and was suprised that Michael knew them!

"Well I did say I'd been staying in Cities more and more. Only natural that I'd pick up some contemporary music as well." We talked for ages about what music we liked, and I felt a pang of homesickness washing over me as I thought about my similar conversations with my Guitar teacher. Michael noticed this. "Hey c'mon, Al, don't get homesick on me now!" I looked up at the sky.

"Don't you ever miss your family, Michael?" He nodded.

"'Course! But it's no use moping about it!" He noticed that I was still unhappy. "I admit I did feel a lot of homesickness. But now I've got a travelling companion, and that's all I need!"

"How about two then?" A voice said behind us. Michael leapt up and I turned round to see him hugging a girl who looked about his age (though I was guessing she was a Vampire). She had long red hair and was about the same height as Michael. Michael broke the hug and put an arm on me and the newcomer's shoulders.

"Introductions!" He boomed. "Al, meet Becky. Becky, meet Al!"


	8. End of the Open Road

"So...uh, how do you know Michael?" I asked the newcomer, Becky. Michael had gone to gather some wood for a fire, and told us that it was the perfect opportunity to get to know each other. I wasn't that good at talking to people I'd never met before, and I could tell that it was the same for Becky. 

"Oh! We're siblings." My eyes widened in suprise. 

"Well that's news to me!" I gasped, my hesitation fading away. "Michael had never mentioned a sister before! Do you have any other brothers or sisters?" Becky seemed to relax a little bit. 

"No, it's just us." 

"So you both got blooded together?" Becky nodded. "How'd it happen?" 

"Well, when we were younger, our mum and dad went on a trip around the world. They were only supposed to be gone for maybe two years but after five they hadn't returned. They had trusted us with the house so we didn't have a guardian. One night we were talking to ourselves about our mum and dad while we were walking home, and a woman overheard us and offered to help. When she said she was a Vampire, we weren't sure what to think, but once she showed us what she could do, we were convinced and joined the ranks of the Vampires!" She smiled at the memory, then turned to me and asked about how I'd been blooded. I gave her a quick rundown of the events that led to me becoming a creature of the night. There was a pause after I'd told her. 

"What's wrong?" I asked. Becky shook her head and smiled. 

"I'm glad Michael was able to save you." I nodded, then asked her a question I'd been wanting to ask her since she arrived. 

"How did you know where to look for Michael?" I asked. 

"We can communicate mentally," she said simply. I nodded as I remembered reading something about that. 

"And what brings you to your brother?" I asked. 

"I've just returned from Vampire Mountain and didn't want to travel alone until the next council, so I found out where Michael was and tracked him here!" We talked some more before Michael returned with some firewood. After lighting the fire we settled down to talk as a group. Michael was trying to embarrass Becky with stories of her when she was a kid, but Becky responded by doing the same to Michael before they gave up. Needless to say I had a lot of dirt on them, perfect for lighthearted blackmail! 

Becky and I quickly bonded over the next few months, largely thanks to Michael goading both sides into talking to each other. That was a real high point of our travels before Vampire Mountain, not having a purpose and just going wherever the mood took you. I remembered my hesitations to becoming a Vampire and realized how misplaced they were. Sure I still missed my family, but I now felt that I was part of a new family, and Michael and Becky did nothing to dissuade that idea. When we stopped we'd play Guitar or just talk. I was amazed at how well Becky could play the guitar! She'd been learning for about 20 years, but seemed to be able to play as well as Michael when the mood took her. 

I wished that our party would stay like this, just me, Becky and Michael, but all too soon (it had been a year, but to me it felt like weeks) Becky parted ways with us to meet up with a group of female Vampire friends. I felt saddened that she would be leaving, but Michael as usual cheered me up. 

"We'll see her in...about 3 years!" If I were a human I'd have been depressed, but I realised that to a Vampire or half-Vampire that was nothing! The two of us continued to travel, and I couldn't have asked for a better travelling companion. One night I asked him why he had put on the facade the first time we had met. 

"It was a serious business, so I used a serious approach," he said. "Could you really see through it?" 

"Not really," I said truthfully. "Now that I know you it seems more obvious than when I didn't even know your name." Michael nodded. 

The next two years were just spent travelling. We hadn't had Vampire lessons every night, but Michael picked those up again in earnest, now that in less than a year we would be on our way to Vampire Mountain. Michael spent some of our lessons just talking about what Vampire Mountain was like, and it didn't seem so bad. Sure I'd have to endure waterfall showers and toilets that you could fall into, but other than that I was looking forward to visiting there. Also we'd meet up with Becky again. 

It was weird that six years had already been and gone. If I were human I'd have been twenty-two, but in my outward appearence I was just past seventeen. I asked Michael how old he and Becky were. 

"Well let's see..." he muttered. "I was about 19 when I was blooded, that was about...ah, I'm only 89!" He seemed relieved. 

"Only?" 

"Oy!" Michael mock glared at me. "And Becky was 18, so she's 88." 

"I was expecting you to be older," I thought aloud. "Did you become a full Vampire straight away?" 

"Pretty much, yeah. I mean, we spent some time as assisstants before becoming full Vampires, but for most of the time I've been a full Vampire." For some reason that got me thinking about Vampire Mountain again. 

"Who are the princes just now?" I asked. 

"Whoa! Random question. Where'd that one come from?" Michael asked. 

"Juuust curious," I replied. 

"Right now, Mika Ver Leth's one, so's Arrow...Vancha March is one...I don't think they've appointed another Prince. They don't rush into these things." 

"I thought Darren Shan had changed the names of all the people and places he mentioned. 

"With the Vampires it was a double bluff. They all have the same names as they did before. The only ones he changed were human names and places." 

"And what happened with the War of the Scars?" 

"We got the the peace we wanted, thanks to Evanna's children. Right now they're living in solitude with a select few Vampeneze and Vampires being trained. Maybe you'll meet them sometime." There was a silence as I thought of more questions, finally coming up with: 

"Has there ever been a female Vampire Prince?" I asked. Michael shook his head. 

"Not to my knowledge. There aren't that many female Vampires, remember?" I nodded. 

"I can't believe I'll be going to Vampire Mountain in less than a year," I thought aloud. 

"Eh, it's not so bad, but not so good either if you're not a fan of the Trials." I was suprised. 

"What?" 

"The Vampire Princes created a new law, meaning that all people blooded before turning eighteen must undertake the trials." I gawped at him. "Don't worry! You're a half-Vampire, so some of the harder trials will be removed from your choices. None of them are easy though." 

"Do they still kill you if you fail?" I asked. 

"Well...sort of yeah." 

"Sort of? What, do they kill your legs only?" Michael laughed and shook his head. 

"Well, since "Darren Shan" undertook the trials, they've adjusted the laws. If you fail because of interference from a non-Vampire, you won't be killed. Also, if you fail on the fifth trial, you are allowed to retake the trials." 

"But if I fail on any of the first four I'm killed?" Michael nodded. "Well that sucks." 

"Don't be so down on yourself! I've been travelling with you for six years, and I have confidence in your abilities!" 

"Thanks," I said, attempting to smile. Six years ago I thought that seven years would be enough. Now I wasn't so sure. I knew that the laws were a lot less strict than when Darren took them, but the stakes were still high, and I hadn't really been able to test my abilities like he had. Even then he'd only gotten to the fourth trial, but his failure was largely due to the third task. I felt a little better, but hoped beyond hope that I would not have the Hall of Flames as one of my trials. I asked Michael about his trials. 

"Eh, my trials weren't so bad. I had the Blooded Boars first, then the rest were full-Vampire trials, so we don't need to worry about those." I pestered him to tell me all of his trials, and he eventually gave in. "The Blooded Boars, the Spiked Cage, the Endless Maze, the Hall of Targets and the Hall of Darkness." 

"What did you do in them?" I asked. Michael sighed and started explaining. 

"You know about the Blooded Boars, so I won't go into that trial. For the Spiked Cage, I had to escape from a cage with walls that were closing in. Oh, and the walls had spikes. For the endless maze I had to navigate...well, through an endless maze in a time limit or else the exits would be sealed. The Hall of Targets was where you had to hit targets within an insane time limit, and the Hall of Darkness was where you were blinded and had to fight off some Vampires." I looked stunned. "As I said, you would only have to worry about the Blooded Boars, so don't lose any sleep over it. Speaking of which..." Michael looked as he saw the sun slowly rising. "I'll see you in the evening." We were staying in a smallish cave for the night. I tried to get to get to sleep, despite my thoughts being filled by the Trials, but I finally drifted off before being woken by Michael for more lessons. 


	9. Trials, Pasts and Snowballs

All too soon, the last year of freedom passed, and now we were slowly making our way to Vampire Mountain. I don't think I could have felt more nervous if I tried, as every step closer towards the mountain resulted in a flurry of Butterflies in my stomach. We had only been travelling a few nights, but I was on the verge of being ill I was so nervous. I kept trying to think of anything that could take my mind off my stomach: seeing Becky again, meeting new Vampires, the trials...

Fuck. Not what I wanted to think about as my stomach seemed to turn three hundred and sixty degrees. Despite Michael's encouragement, the truth was I hadn't had a proper opportunity to test myself. With Darren Shan, by the time he'd been on his way to Vampire Mountain, he'd fought with a Wolf Man and survived against a mad Vampeneze, and by the time he'd gotten to Vampire Mountain, he'd fought a bear infected with Vampeneze blood! Okay, so he'd gotten help with the bear and hadn't actually fought the mad Vampeneze, but he HAD been given chances to toughen himself up. I had never been in a proper fight before, and was scared to death of what might happen if one of my trials involved a fight.

"Time to stop," Michael said gently. I snapped out of my thoughts to see that the sun would soon be rising.

"Oh," Michael noticed that I was still extremely nervous.

"For the last time, don't worry yourself!" he gently chatised me.

"But..."

"Look, you remember the books, yeah?" I nodded. "Then you should know that you're not going in this alone! We can invoke the Period of Preparation and you'll be given practise for each trial, so you won't go into one with absolutely no experience!" He was right of course, but my hesitant mind was still scared.

"Thanks," I said. "I've just never really been given the chance to properly test myself." Michael shrugged.

"I didn't get the chance either, but as you can see, I'm not a ghost!" That cheered me up straight away.

"Thanks, Michael."

"No problems! Now let's get us some sleep!"

When we'd first started our trek to the Vampire Stronghold, my feet felt frozen. They didn't cut up though, and eventually toughened up, though I'd hoped they'd heat up as well. When we stopped I would desperatly try to rub some warmth back into my feet, as my biggest fear was losing toes. My feet were really sensitive. Whenever I went swimming, I had to be careful not to swim too long or else my toenails started to turn black! Also, if my feet touched something remotely warm, they became extremely red. Michael seemed to have no such troubles, but simply shrugged off my questions saying that he'd made the trek before and his feet had gotten used to it. He didn't seem to want to talk so much about himself anymore. Neither did I, but I guessed that we'd told each other all the good stuff and now were left with the bad memories and dark secrets.

A few days passed without much interest. Michael had been trying to see if Becky was making the trek, but was dissapointed when he discovered that she was already at Vampire Mountain.

"What can you do?" He simply shrugged. I was looking forward to seeing Becky again, but something I was looking forward to even more than that, was seeing how Vampires would react to having a Guitar in their mountain.

"I wonder if many Vampires know how to play..." I wondered. Michael shook his head.

"It's a human instrument I guess. They wouldn't really bother themselves with learning how to play one. There are a few exceptions though, like me and Becky." The mention of a female Vampire brought up an old question.

"Why aren't there many female Vampires?" He stopped.

"You did read those books, yeah?" I nodded.

"But surely the fact that Vampires are barren isn't the only reason you don't blood many female Vampires, right?" I asked. "I mean, _that_ fact works both ways."

"Well, think about it. Many of the current Vampires were born around a time when women still didn't have many rights. They like to stick to tradition, so I guess that they look down upon women." That seemed kind of harsh, but it made sense.

"So, do you know how many female vampires there are now?" Michael frowned as he thought.

"Hmm...there's Becky and her three friends, there's maybe about six who I don't know, and then there's...Sam..."

"Who's Sam?" I asked. Michael pulled a face.

"She's the one who's trying to convince me to become a General. If it weren't for her trying to do that she'd be an okay girl, but she keeps pestering me about it."

"Why does she want you to become a General?"

"She's a General herself, so she probably wants me to sit next to her or something. Let's just keep moving." We walked silently through the snow.

My memories kept playing in my head for some weird reason. Over the next few days, all I could think about was my family and friends. Max, who'd been one of my school friends kept coming to mind, mainly because he'd been the one who introduced me to the Darren Shan books, inadvertently saving me. He was shorter than me, and had blonde hair and blueish eyes. It was weird that all of of my friends he was the one who showed up more frequently, but I guess he was the one who was closely related to this whole...incident. I also started thinking about a girl I'd used to fancy. She left before we went into secondary school, and I'd lost contact with her ever since. I wondered what would have happened if I had kept in touch. Then I figured there was no point thinking about it because it was all in the past.

We made good progress over the next three or so weeks. When we first saw the snow, we spent a few hours lobbing snowballs at each other. I lost of course, I'd never been good at snowball fights when I was human anyway. We got used to the snow, but every so often we'd throw a suprise snowball at each other and mutter darkly before retaliating. I had completely forgotten about the trials, but when we stopped at a way station I started thinking about them again. There was a part of me that was entranced by them, and I kept wondering what trials I would end up getting. I figured that as long as it wasn't the Hall of Flames I'd be okay. I wouldn't mind if that was the last one - then I'd have time to recover.

I couldn't sleep, so I stood at the edge of the way station and watched the falling snow. I soon got bored of just looking at it and made a few snow angels, before I had a cunning idea. I set about my business and then went back into the way station and waited.

Several hours later, I heard Michael wake up. He shook me and I pretended that I had been fast asleep. We gathered up our things and made to leave, but Michael stopped at the door and looked on at the message I'd made in the snow.

_Michael smells_

"Real mature, Al." While he looked at the message, I brought out my hidden snowballs and threw all of them straight at him. "Oh, you're gonna get it now!" I raced out of the way station as Michael tailed behind me, throwing snowballs all the while.


	10. Vampire Mountain

"THAT'S Vampire Mountain??" Michael nodded. I couldn't help but stare in amazement. Sure, I hadn't expected the mountain to be small, but it was huge! My stomach lurched as I realized that my trials would come soon after entering the mountain.

"Ready to go?" Michael asked, then started walking before I could reply, leaving me to chase after him.

We entered Vampire Mountain through a large tunnel that was pitch black. Michael seemed to know where he was going, so I blindly followed behind. Every few moments I would run my hands against the sides of the walls, just to see if this was real. Vampire Mountain, and I was in it! Michael stopped abruptly and I walked right into him. He ignored the collision and pounded on what looked like a door. After a few moments of silence the door opened and a man with a torch and a spear was looking at us with suspicion.

"Address yourselves to the gate." I felt shivers run down my spine as I remembered this from one of the books.

"I am Michael Taiva, come to seek council."

"I am Alastair Low, come to seek council." The guard peered over Michael to look at me.

"Michael Taiva is recognized by the gate, but this boy is not."

"He's my assisstant, he's a half-Vampire." Michael stated.

"Do you vouch for him?"

"I do."

"Then Alastair Low is recognized by the gate. The Halls are open to all of you. Enter and fare well." He stepped aside and let us in. Before I knew it, I was in the hall of Osca Velm! I looked up at the large black stone where Vampires at council were written. I looked as the guard wrote Michael's name, then saw him hesitate as he was about to write mine. He hurried over to me to ask for spelling, then wrote the name up. Michael led me over to a woman with two barrels, one with some hard bread and the other with little chunks of cooked and raw meat. We sat down and I wolfed down the meat.

"I didn't starve you, did I??" Michael exclaimed as he saw how quickly I was eating my food. I paused and swallowed before answering.

"Nah. Sometimes I'm hungry and sometimes I'm not." He looked at me suspiciously, muttered something along the lines of me being weird before he started eating as well. The female Vampire came back with a jug of blood, wine and water. Now it was my turn to look at Michael strangely as he immediately grabbed the wine and downed half of it before realising I was staring at him.

"What?" He asked, wiping wine from his chin.

"Oh nothing. Just go back to downing all the wine."

"You want some?" He offered me the jug, but I shook my head.

"Nah. Just suprised you downed half of it almost as I quickly as me eating." He simply shrugged, swallowed the rest of the wine and returned to eating. I chose the jug of water and started drinking. A few moments later the female Vampire returned one last time with some broth. I grimaced as I remembered what it was made of.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked as he tucked in to the broth.

"Bat broth." I stated simply. He nodded.

"It was weird for me to, but I just ignored the bat part and imagined it was something else." That made sense, and I found that really easy to do.

We ate at the table some more before I spotted Becky walking around, looking for someone. I signalled to her and she walked quickly up to us before sitting down.

"There you guys are!" She exclaimed. "I looked for you mentally not too long ago and found you in one of the tunnels, so I came as fast as I could." She turned to me. "Hey, Al! How've you been?" I grinned.

"Not to bad." Then the smile left my face. "Though I'm a bit nervous about the Trials."

"For the last time, don't be!" Michael groaned. "You'll do fine!"

"I guess. I have a more matured body than Darren Shan had I guess." Becky looked confused.

"Who's Darren Shan?" She asked. I was about to respond when Michael pulled me away.

"You might not want to bring those books to attention." He said.

"How come? You knew about the books."

"I know, but that's because I saw them in a book store. I may be the only one who knows about them, and we don't want to tell the Princes or any other Vampire that humans know about us, even if they don't believe the books." I nodded and we returned to the table. Becky asked who Darren Shan was, and I told her I'd just thought about something completely different, but for some reason I thought was related to the trials. She still seemed a bit suspicious but we moved the conversation elsewhere. While in the middle of telling a story, we heard a shriek of joy close by.

"MICHAEL! YOU'RE HERE!"

"Charna's guts..." Michael muttered, before turning and greeting a girl who looked about twenty one in human years. She had long blonde hair and seemed really energetic. I assumed that this was Sam, the girl who'd been trying to convince Michael to join the ranks of the Generals.

"How have you been? You've not been keeping in touch!"

"Yeah good...oh, but I haven't introduced you to Al! Al this is Sam, Sam, Al." I offered my hand to shake but instead she hugged me.

"You seem a little young to be a Vampire," she said accusingly as she looked at me.

"He's a half-Vampire," Michael said. "My assisstant." Sam squealed and took a step back from me before turning to Michael.

"But he's not even an adult! We've been having a surge of tiny people coming here, since that boy got blooded by...what was his name again?" Michael took advantage of the pause to shove Becky in front of Sam and rush off with me.

"How on earth did she become a Vampire??" I asked as we walked.

"The Vampire that found her fell in love with her. When she found out she asked to be blooded, God knows why. But she can be a great fighter when the going gets rough."

"Oh! Have you travelled with her?"

"Hey look!" Michael quickly attempted to change the subject by pointing someone out. "That's one of my good friends. HEY KEVIN! KEEEVVVIIINNN!" The Vampire turned and his eyes widened when he saw Michael. The Vampire raced up to Michael and they immediately fell into conversation. Looking at the Vampire, he was a lot taller than Michael, but was bald and had really dark eyes. I stared up at the ceiling until there was a lull and the Vampire noticed me.

"Sorry, Al! This is Kevin!" We shook hands. "Al's my assisstant." Kevin grinned when he heard that.

"Bet Sam would have a fit if she saw him!" Michael returned the grin. "You already saw her?" Michael nodded. "Man I wish I'd been there to see that! Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Al."

"Nice to meet you as well." I replied.

Michael had told me that we'd be meeting with the Vampire Princes in a few days. While he caught up with some of his friends, me and Becky went outside of the mountain for some fresh air.

"I haven't been out here for a while." She noted. "'Course, you've been travelling, so I don't suppose you'd miss the outdoors just yet!" I shrugged.

"Well, we didn't really get a chance to appreciate it." I noted. She nodded.

"Who's Darren Shan?" I was suprised by the question.

"Umm...he's...a school friend. An old school friend."

"No he's not. I can tell when you're lying. Tell me who he is!"

"I don't really want to."

"Why not?"

"I just don't!"

"We're not leaving until you tell me!" I groaned and tried to think of some excuse or distraction. Thankfully, after a few minutes, one came.

"Do you hear that?" Becky asked suddenly. I listened and thought I heard the sound of someone panting. I looked around for a few minutes, then my eyes widened as I saw a guy, about twenty two years old running towards us. We would have run, but we saw that he had long gashes all over him with blood slowly pouring out. He came within a few metres of us, then collapsed.

The man's injuries and sudden appearence didn't suprise me as much as when I realised I recognised him. It was one of my friends at school who'd introduced me to the Darren Shan books: Max!

With this chapter marks the end of my erratic updates. I'll probably update on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays, though reviews (especially ones with constructive critisisms) will speed up the proccess, so please review!


	11. Troubling Times

My brain went haywire when I saw Max. It convinced me that this was a gathering of people from my past and that everyone was going to come out of the bushes! I guess seeing someone from my past didn't make much sense to me. After all, I hadn't had any contact with anything from my time before being blooded for so long. My mind stayed this way for a few moments before my sanity returned and the feeling passed as I realised that an old friend of mine was not in good shape. I bent over the unconscious form, then remembered Becky was still here.

"Becky! I need you to spit on his wounds!" Becky looked down at him, and then at me.

"Who is he?"

"He was a friend from the past. _Is_ a friend," I corrected myself.

"A Vampire?" I shook my head. "I know this seems cruel, but why should we help him?"

"Wait. What?"

"He's not a Vampire. Seeing as that's the case he's probably a Vampire Hunter, and we don't want people like that alive."

"Max would never become a Vampire Hunter!"

"What makes you so sure?" I knew that I couldn't tell her the truth without mentioning the books, but they were the reason I knew Max wouldn't become a Hunter of Vampires. He was probably the only one who had any idea that I'd faked my death. But why would he follow me? The last time I checked he had future plans and everything. Why give that up to locate someone who had vanished from human society? Suddenly a possible reason clicked into place.

"I think he wants to become a Vampire." I said slowly. Becky looked at me with suprise.

"What makes you so sure? How would he have heard enough about Vampires to want to be one?" I shrugged, thinking on my feet.

"Most likely he heard it in passing and followed a Vampire here. The point is, we don't know. Yes he could be a hunter, but he could also want to join our ranks!" What I'd said thankfully made sense to Becky: If she had refused to accept my point, I would have felt that I had to fight her and I knew that she would have won.

"So what should we do?" She asked me calmly. I was already creating a solution to this problem.

"Why don't we tie him up? That way we can find out the truth from him, and if it turns out that he's a hunter..." I didn't go on - Becky knew what I would have said.

"So what happens if he's lying?"

"We get the truth out of him." I muttered grimly.

We tied up Max a few miles away from the mountain, and I convinced Becky to leave me to the interrogation as I knew that Max would bring up the books. I thought that he might have taken a while to wake up, but within a few minutes his eyes snapped open. He looked at me and his eyes widened.

"A...Alastair??" He sounded genuinely shocked, which suprised me - I couldn't remember him ever sounding like this. I decided to feign ignorance.

"Why are you here?" I snapped. Max flinched at the question, his eyes shutting. Then he opened them again and stared.

"What the hell are you talking about? It's me..." I interrupted him before he said his name: that way I could pretend that I didn't recognize him and carry on with the questions.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!" I roared. Max blinked and tried to move, realising now that he was bound up.

"Why have you tied me up?"

"I'd answer my question before my patience and your neck snaps," I growled menacingly.

"I...I was walking back to my house, and then I saw you." His expression was unreadable. "I thought you were dead. But then I looked closer and I knew it was you. I wanted to say hi, but there was someone else with you, and that's when it clicked. You had faked your death. You're a Vampire." I started pacing in front of him.

"I don't know how you would have jumped to that conclusion. Anyway, Vampires don't exist." I stated. This comment caused Max to snap.

"Don't play dumb with me, Alastair! You and I both read those books! You're a Vampire! And the mountain I saw you standing outside is Vampire Mountain!" I stopped moving and faced him.

"So why did you decide to follow us for all this time?" Something told me that it wasn't for the greeting.

"I want to become a Vampire." Bingo.

"What? Why? Last I checked you had a great life! Tons of future plans all set!" Max's face darkened.

"After you your fake death, people started dying for real." What?? I repeated my thought to Max. "I think it was the Vampeneze that did it. Drained of blood was the only clue I needed."

"Who...died?" I asked. Max remained silent. I was desperate to know more, but right now I had to find Becky and tell her that Max wanted to be a Vampire. But before I did that..."Max, you can't mention the Darren Shan books."

"Why not?"

"There is only one person in the whole of Vampire Mountain who knows about them. It's better if you don't talk about them."

"So who does know?"

"Michael, the guy who blooded me." Max started to ask another question, but I stopped him. "Are you absolutely sure that you want to be a Vampire?" Max nodded grimly. I told him to wait, and soon after Becky and Max were face to face.

"I hear you wish to become a Vampire." She stated. Max nodded. "What are your reasons?"

"I have no living relatives left who know I exist." He looked at me before turning back to Becky. My thoughts drowned out the rest of the conversation as I wondered why the Vampeneze would start killing so many people in the same area. It couldn't have anything to do with me killing a Vampeneze, could it? After all, I'd killed the only one who knew about it, so who else could have had reason to kill so many times in the same place? Who had died? Maybe that was a clue...

Then I thought of something really stupid. _What if Michael had lied about the Vampeneze?_ It was really stupid, but the thought couldn't leave my head.

"...need to test your blood." I tuned back in to the conversation. Becky made a small cut on Max's hand and tested it. She nodded. "Good. We can continue." I averted my eyes while Max was being blooded, though looking back I don't know why I did it. After a few minutes I turned my eyes back to Becky and Max to see Max stretching his arms, before turning to me.

"Well. I guess I'm a half-Vampire now."

It was weird thinking that Becky now had an assisstant. Me, Max and Becky returned to Vampire mountain, and after vouching for Max we were allowed in. We looked around for Michael and found him talking to Kevin again. Michael turned and looked slightly suprised when he saw Max.

"Who's this then?" He asked. Before anyone could answer I asked Max a question.

"Was there only the one Vampeneze?" He looked confused. "On the night that I got marked."

"As far as I saw there was only one. But why are you asking that? And who's this?" I relaxed slightly.

"This is Max." Then came the explaining: to Michael about Max, and to Max about what happened after I died.


	12. The Trials Begin

It took a few hours for everything to be explained. We were sitting down in the Hall of Khledon Lurt. Max was looking round at the hall, but Becky and Michael were subdued (Michael had said goodbye to Kevin before we launched into the stories.)

"Well at least you don't have to take the trials," I told Max, desperately trying to break the silence. Michael looked up and nodded, looking at him.

"Yep. You're over eighteen, so you don't have to take the trials if you don't want to."

"I _do_ want to," Max interrupted. "But I think I'll train up for a few years before I try. How long did you have, Ali?" I tried to remember how many years it had been.

"About seven." I grunted. Max nodded and returned to check his new surroundings. There was a moment's pause, then Michael got up and looked at me meaningfully.

"You need to get some sleep. You'll be picking your first trial tomorrow." I nodded and got up.

"I'll see everyone in the morning." Becky and Michael nodded, but Max got up.

"I think I might head to bed as well. D'you mind if I share a room with you for tonight? Just until I get my own." I nodded slowly and we walked out of the hall.

Even though Max was a good friend, the circumstances made it difficult to make any type of conversation on the way to our sleeping quarters. Once we got there though, we started talking and couldn't stop! It was like I'd been inflating for the last seven years and was finally able to deflate. We eventually got to sleep when I remembered the first trial was tomorrow. At least, Max did. I stared up at the ceiling for a while, before realising I'd be much better off sleeping and dozed off.

I ate my breakfast the next night feeling a lot better. Max was able to keep me smiling while we tucked in to our Bat Broth, but when I had to start walking to the Hall of Princes with Michael, my nerves returned. I tried talking to get my mind of the challenges.

"So did you speak to the Princes about me?" Michael nodded slightly.

"I told them how old you are and why I blooded you. The reason is valid, but you'll still have to undertake the trials."

"So how many trials do I have to pick from?"

"Not too long after Darren was blooded, when we started getting more children, new trials were created for the Half-Vampires. There are about eighty for Half-Vampires, but midway through the trials you'll be made to choose at random one of the trials that "Darren Shan" undertook. Those aren't just the ones mentioned in the books: he took the trials again, remember?" I nodded, and seriously hoped that I wouldn't get the Hall of Flames.

"Why do they do that? Just as a tribute to him or something?" Michael nodded. Then I remembered something I'd been wondering about my trials.

"Who's going to be my Trials Tutor?"

"You're assigned one. Don't worry, they're all qualified for the job. There are about ten to choose from."

"And how is it chosen?"

"The ten or so Tutors discuss who tutors who." We lapsed into silence as the distance between us and the Hall became smaller.

The Hall was exactly how it had been mentioned in the books with the weird throbbing walls, benches and the platform with the Princes. The two Princes Mika Ver Leth and Arrow were there, and looked at me as I walked up to them.

"Welcome to Vampire Mountain," Mika said stiffly. I remembered that he didn't approve of blooding children.

"Thanks." I replied.

"I trust that you have been told about the new rules Vampire Mountain has concerning children." I found it annoying that Mika was calling me a child, but I ignored it.

"Yep. I have to undertake the Trials." Mika nodded. At this point, a Vampire walked up to me and stared me in the eye. He looked really strict, and had narrow slits for eyes as well as having very little hair. He was also really bulky.

"This will be your Trials Tutor. He will help you throughout your Trials and do his best to see that you make it through." I nodded. "Then the first Trial shall be chosen." One of the Generals checked the bag before I got to pick one - tradition. I fumbled in the bag for a few moments before pulling out one of the stones.

"Number fifty seven! The Storm Pool!" That didn't sound so good to me, but my Tutor nodded approvingly.

"What's...the trial like?" I asked my mentor.

"You will soon see." He said without looking at me.

The Storm Pool was a pool of water that was pretty deep and had strong currents that could sweep you into a corner of the pool and keep you there until you drowned! You had to get a large gem at the bottom, but thankfully the currents only started once you had taken the gem. The bad part was that the gem was heavy enough slow you down, making it harder to avoid the currents. We went to a smaller pool and began practise.

I soon realised that my mentor wasn't the greatest matchup. He didn't seem to care about me having enough energy for tomorrow and made me dive into the water again and again with only a moments rest. The currents worked in a similar way to the flames in the Hall of Flames and my Trials Tutor would pump in currents to the pool. At one point he kept pumping and the currents held me at one of the sides for so long I thought I might die.

"You must be able to break out of bad situations," he said simply as I lay sprawled on the floor.

"How am I supposed to fight a current like that one?" I snapped.

"The force of which the currents are pumped in means you can see them. If you find yourself caught up in one of them, simply swim above or below it."

"That's what I was doing!" I said exasperated. He ignored me and resumed training.

I didn't think that my Trials Tutor would let me stop to eat, but after a while he announced he was hungry and walked off, telling me to come back in two hours. I found Max and Becky in the Hall of Khledon Lurt and sat next to them, shovelling food in my mouth.

"Tough time?" Max asked. I swallowed my food and nodded.

"My Tutor's terrible! He nearly killed me!" Becky nodded.

"Kreeva's like that. He has very little faith in the people he tutors until they prove themselves by enduring his training and passing the first few trials. He lets up if you make it to the third trial."

"Fuck." Then I returned to eating. Once I had finished I started talking again. "So did you have him as your tutor?" Becky nodded.

"For the first two trials it was torture. Once we got to the third one, he was a lot better and I passed the next trials far more easily." I still wasn't happy about having such a slave driver as my Tutor, but at least he wouldn't be like this for all of the trials.

When I returned to the practise pool I now had to retrieve a gem at the bottom. It was a lot heavier than the one in the actual trial, but there was only one set of currents being pumped in so I guessed it balanced out. I got stuck several times and had to drop the gem and then dive down to get it again (you were only allowed to resurface once you had the gem. If you didn't you failed.) Kreeva didn't let up throughout any of the training, and I had to lean on the walls as I walked slowly back to my room. When I got there Max was asleep. I figured he had been busy and hadn't been able to switch rooms yet, so I crawled into my coffin and immediately drifted off.


	13. The Storm Pool

Well, here's the next chapter up a day early, thanks to one little review! Remember: more reviews means quicker chapter updates! Enjoy!

I woke up feeling very stiff after the training from the previous night. It was so bad that I had to spend some time in the coffin slowly stretching until the pain dulled down and I was able to walk and headed over to the Hall of Khledon Lurt. I found Max and Michael sitting at one of the tables, and after finding some food to eat joined them.

"Hey, Ali!" Max beamed. Despite my nerves I couldn't help but grin. I was about to tuck into my food when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Turning round I mentally groaned as I saw Kreeva looking down on me.

"Don't eat before the trial or it'll slow you down." Then he walked off. I grumbled while Max grabbed my food and started eating it.

"He seems nice," Max joked while eating. I grunted and waited for them to finish their food. Once they had we went to the hall where my task would be held.

I realised then that the pool I had been training in was tiny compared to this. I'm not good at measuring how big something is, but it looked like the pool had a one hundred metre surface! As for how deep it was, I couldn't even see the bottom!

Arrow was there to watch over the trial. After going through the formalities, he wished me luck. I stood at the edge of the water for a moment - gathering strength - before diving in.

There wasn't that much of interest on the way down. Despite my earlier fears the pool wasn't that deep. Looking at the sides I noticed a lot more holes than in the practise pool, meaning there would be a lot of current once I had the gem. I swam quickly but without using up much strength. I didn't want to use all my energy on the way down! I reached the gem, and grabbed it.

Almost immediately I heard rushing sounds. Looking up I saw a lot of disturbances in the water and I was dreading what would happen next. Slowly I swam upwards, trying to swim around the currents. After getting about a quarter of the way through, an unexpected blast forced me into a wall, meaning I had to drop the gem. The currents didn't let up though - once you'd gotten the gem for the first time, they would keep on going until the trial was over. I swam back down and picked up the gem again, willing myself to be quicker than the currents. That didn't work and I was forced to drop my prize once more.

I was really starting to panic at that point. Getting the gem was easy, but getting back up...I swam down to the bottom again and once more picked up the gem, then tried blasting my way up through the middle. I got about halfway up - further than I'd been so far - when a strong current smashed me into the side of the pool. The gem started to drop but I picked it up before it got too far and tried my new tactic again.

I had gotten about three quarters of the way to the top when I felt the currents stop. I rejoiced, thinking that they had stopped for good.

That's when they blasted me.

Once again I was slammed into a wall, but this time with a lot more force. I felt pain at the back of my head and knew that my wound could cause a lot of trouble if it didn't get treated soon. The pain and feel of the water vanished, and I was worried that I'd destroyed all my nerve endings, but on the plus side I couldn't feel pain at the time. I tried breaking out but I was trapped at the side of the wall. Cursing mentally I dropped the precious stone, but found that I still couldn't break through. That made me really desperate and I was somehow able to escape the pounding water and grab the gem once more.

Looking around, I saw that I was still at around the three quarter mark. There was a little bit of blood floating around, but I paid it no attention to it. Until I saw a figure at the bottom of the water! I yelped and water rushed in my mouth, but I didn't feel anything. All I could think was that I hadn't known that there would be something else in the water! I felt myself blacking out...

...then regained...consciousness? I looked around and realised that I'd blacked out for a minute when my head smashed against the wall. I could now feel the water around me, and felt the gem in my hands. I had floated down a bit, but I was still relatively close to the top. I checked the bottom of the pool to see if there was even a hint of something else being there, but there was nothing. I started swimming back up, doing my best to avoid the currents. Finally I broke the surface and heard cheering. I swam to the edge of the pool and hauled myself up, along with the gem. Michael lifted me up to my feet and shook my hand with a stupid grin on his face. I felt a smile on my face as well. One down, four to go!

After getting the back of my head treated I rushed over to the Hall of Khledon Lurt to eat at last! Max joined me, and wolfed down his food as quickly as I did. I noticed that Michael had wandered off somewhere, so once we finished eating we talked for a bit. Then my mind went back to the night I found Max, and remembered him talking about people dying.

"Max..." I began. He looked at me. "Who died?" He seemed confused for a second, then it clicked and he shook his head.

"It doesn't make any sense." I thought aloud. "I haven't heard of sane Vampeneze staking out, so it must be a mad one, seeing as they also left the bodies in the public eye..."

"They didn't." Max interrupted.

"I thought you said they were drained of blood. How could you have known if you didn't see the bodies?" He shivered.

"I found one. This was after a few people had gone missing. I reported it, but then people kept vanishing."

"Who?" I asked again. There was a long pause. Then:

"The only ones targeted...were the ones in our year." I hadn't been expecting that, and just stared down at the table. _Only people in our year??_ Now it seemed like whoever it was behind the killings knew about me and the loss of one of theirs. I looked up at Max, but by the look on his face, that wasn't the worst of the news.

"The killings weren't all at once. They happened about once a month. Most of us moved when three or four were gone, but some...stayed. And they vanished as well. Duncan, Jenny..." He stopped and breathed deeply before continuing. "It didn't stop when the people in our year switched schools. Every month one of them would be taken away. The few of us that were still alive went into hiding. I don't know how many of us are left." He got up and slowly walked away. I could tell that there was more to the story, but I'm glad he saved the worst 'till later. If he had told me the rest then...I don't know what I'd have done.


	14. Ascending

That night Max's words were echoing through my head. He avoided me for the rest of the night, obviously not wanting to be questioned again, so I just went to my coffin and slept. When I woke up, Max had moved out of my room and he wasn't at the Hall of Khledon Lurt, so I figured that he'd had an early breakfast and gone off somewhere. I did see Becky though, and after finding some food sat down next to her.

"Hey Al! Congratulations on the trial!" I couldn't help but grin and nod.

"I wonder what the next trial will be..." I thought aloud. Becky shrugged.

"None of them are easy, but seeing as Kreeva's tutoring you, you'll be fine!"

"Oh. _Him_." My eyes darkened, but Becky had resumed eating and didn't see this.

"I know he's tough now, but I told you already, he's a good tutor," she said during mouthfuls. I nodded and finished my meal. I then wandered around aimlessly for a bit before realising that I should head to the Hall of Princes.

When I got there, Kreeva was waiting impatiently. He steered me towards the Princes.

"Congratulations on clearing your first trial," Mika said. "Are you prepared for the next?" I nodded. Once the bag with the trials had been checked by a General, I stuck my hand in the bag and picked a stone at the very bottom.

"Number seventy one! The Ascent!" That didn't sound good to me. I'd never been one for heights and I couldn't help dreading what was to come. Especially with Kreeva tutoring me.

The Ascent was just as bad as I'd expected. I was going to climb one of the steeper cliff faces of Vampire Mountain. On the plus side, once there I could slip down a tunnel which lead back into the Mountain. Kreeva decided to throw me right in at the deep end and have me tackle a more vertical cliff face than the one I'd actually be facing! I was cursing all the way to the rocky wall, but Kreeva ignored my mutterings. He only said something when we got to the place I'd have to climb.

"I will catch you, should you fall." That was it!

"Listen here," I growled, forgetting that he could kill me in an instant. "I don't know what you're trying to do by attempting to get me killed before the trial, but rest assured I will not be climbing _this_ cliff face!" He looked at me impassively, and I wondered whether he would snap or do nothing. Then:

"If you are so stubborn that you will not train, then I see no point in doing so. Just be aware that you brought this upon yourself." He walked off slowly. I knew I should apologise, but I was too angry to do anything of the kind. I simply waited a while so that there was a reasonable distance between us and looked up at the vertical climb.

"I'll show you." Then I started to climb. It would be great to say that I was able to get all the way up, but I didn't. I got no more than a tenth of the way there before looking down and hastily steering back to solid ground. I had no idea how I was going to clear this trial, and with no one tutoring me, the odds of me getting through this had already been cut in half.

"You shouldn't have done that." I'd told Becky what had happened, and she didn't seem impressed. "Now you wont have anyone to help you for this trial."

"Couldn't you tutor me?" I asked hopefully. Becky shook her head.

"You only get one tutor for your trials. If you're lucky, if you apologise to him, he'll still tutor you. If not, good luck on your next trials." I was too worried about The Ascent to worry about any of the other trials, so I knew that I would have to find Kreeva and try to convince him to help me in the trials. When I found him, he was unimpressed.

"And why should I help you? You do not seem to find my teaching methods of any use."

"I have a fear of heights." I mumbled. Then I looked him in the eye. "I'm sorry. And I mean it." There was a long pause.

"Very well. However, as a punishment of sorts, I will not assist you in this trial."

"What? W..."

"All I will say is this. Keep your fingernails as long as possible, but do not grab onto rocks that you think you could grind to dust." He walked off, leaving me wondering how long I would have left to live.

I found Max later on and said sorry for interrogating him the other night. I was still feeling pessimistic at the time, so I felt that I was saying my silent goodbyes.

"So what's your next trial like?"

"I have to climb a vertical cliff face." His face fell.

"Oh. Well, I wouldn't worry about it! Bad as Kreeva is, he'll get you through."

"He isn't tutoring me for this trial."

"So who is?"

"Nobody." I explained to him what had happened. He didn't say anything, but I had a pretty good idea what was running through his mind. Rather than just letting him stand there awkwardly, I went to my coffin and slept.

I didn't eat breakfast the next night. Not only was I too nervous to eat, but I was thinking that it might make me lighter and easier to manoevure. Then again, I could just have easily been wrong. I walked out of the mountain to where my trial would be held, where I found Mika and several other Vampires, including Michael, Becky, Max and Kreeva. I wondered why he was here. Maybe to gloat when I fell?

"Hello, Alastair. Are you ready for your trial?" I could only nod. "You must climb this cliff face and make it to the top. You will become disqualified if you are not holding on to the cliff face through some form or another." I made a mental note to remember that, it might be useful. I approached the side of the mountain...and began the climb.

I was swearing under my breath throughout the whole climb. I didn't dare look down: I simply remembered what Kreeva had told me and hoped that I would be able to get through this trial. Easier said than done. I checked every part of the mountain that I was about to grab onto so that I could make sure it was safe.

Then I did something really stupid. I looked down. I guess I was too curious about how high I was not to. Once I looked I wished I hadn't. The fall looked like it could at least cause me a serious injury if I fell. My vision started blurring, but I willed myself to hang on. Still looking down, I shifted my weight onto a rock without checking its strength.

It crumbled.

I freaked out and lost my holding. As I fell, I desperatly tried to grab the side of the mountain, but my arms were flailing too much to get a proper grip, and as I still flailed around, I fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Shit.


	15. Close Calls

Up a day early again, once again thanks to one review!

-

_"Is he dead?" _

_"Don't be an idiot! That fall wouldn't have killed him! He's unconscious." _

_"Looks like he failed the trial." _

_"No..." _

_"C'mon, let's get him some help." _

_"I wouldn't do that." _

_"Why not?" _

_"He has not failed the trial yet." _

_"What? Do not be a fool! He fell from the cliff! He has..." _

_"He has not failed the trial."_

-

Waking up, I felt a large surge of pain shoot across my right arm before turning into a constant throbbing pain. My eyes creaked open and I found myself lying on the ground at the start of the trial. I felt my left holding onto something...the cliff face! I hadn't been disqualified! I looked around and realised that it was daylight, so there wouldn't be any Vampires around.

"You're really lucky, you know that?" I looked around to see Max standing next to me, shaking his head but grinning all the while. "I was supposed to tell you that I'm going to be watching over the trial, unless you don't finish it by nightfall. Looks like you're at a disadvantage though." He nodded his head towards my right arm.

"Still, I have a chance! Besides, I'm left handed!" He nodded again and I picked myself up, holding on to the cliff face all the while. So now my right arm was out of action, but at least I still had my left hand and feet! Not a very comforting thought, but I was past caring. All I wanted to do was finish this trial so I could rest. I started to climb.

The going was tougher this time. My right arm hurt like hell, but I willed myself to ignore it and tested parts of the cliff face before shifting my weight. I didn't look down this time, so I had no idea how far I'd travelled. Despite the going being incredibly arduous - it should have taken me two hours, but it took me double that - I finally reached the top. I fell to the floor, thankful for solid ground, and then found the tunnel leading down through Vampire Mountain.

Becky hugged me when she saw me, but quickly stopped when I winced at the contact.

"I can't believe that you were able to carry on with the trial after that fall! Mika was trying to get you away, but Kreeva pointed out that you were still holding on to the cliff face." Kreeva had helped me? It didn't seem likely, but I didn't question it. "I think you should see someone about your injury. C'mon!" She took me to a part of the mountain I had never seen before, or read about in the books. It was a relatively large cavern, with a lot of people running around. One of them spotted me and lead me away to a quiet corner where they started to treat my arm.

"Tell me when this hurts!" The guy who said this looked about nineteen, so he couldn't have been blooded for long. He prodded my arm which caused me to yelp in pain. He grinned and brought out a small bag that looked like it was made from animal hide.

"ALASTAIR!!" I spun round to see Sam striding towards me! She was walking pretty quickly, and I had the feeling that this wouldn't be a fun conversation. "Have you seen Michael?" I shook my head. I hadn't really seen him that much since we arrived. "I think you're lying! Where is he?"

"Y'know, I don't follow Michael around all day," I growled. She ignored this.

"Where is he?"

"I've been too busy with..."

"WHERE IS HE??"

"I DON'T KNOW!!"

"LIAR!" I snapped and stood up, staring her down. She stared back, and we approached each other, preparing to fight. At that point the guy who was tending to my arm ran between us.

"STOP!" He roared. "I will not have any fights in the Medical Hall! You!" He looked at Sam. "What's your name?"

"Sam. I'm a Vampire General." The guy didn't seem to care.

"Okay, Sam. You might want to be nicer when you ask people questions. He doesn't know where this "Michael" is, because he's right in the middle of the Trials!" Sam still thought I was lying, but spun round and strided off. I walked back to where I was being treated.

"Thanks." The guy said nothing, merely started rubbing something on my arm that made it sting like crazy.

"No problem. I'm Blaine."

"Alastair."

After I'd been treated, Blaine and I talked for a bit before I went back to my coffin.

The next night I met up with Blaine while eating, and I introduced him to Becky and Max. They got along pretty well, and I was sorry that I had to leave them to go and find out what my next trial was. Kreeva caught up with me once I was there.

"I must admit, I was suprised that you were able to complete the Trial without any training." I felt like I needed to apologise again: I still felt bad and much as I didn't want to admit it, I needed him as my tutor.

"I got through because of your advice. And thanks for backing me up when I fell."

"I was merely stating the obvious. I find it difficult to believe that the other Vampires did not see this." He paused, then changed the subject. "Do you know what happens with the third trial?" I remembered that I would have to undertake a trial that "Darren Shan" had done, but I couldn't say that without bringing attention to the books, so I simply nodded.

"There are twenty different trials to choose from. Some were thought up by Vancha March, but most are the trials undertaken by..." at that point we were called to the platform. I could see that Mika wasn't very happy about my second trial, but I hadn't broken a single rule of the trial. In any case, Arrow seemed impressed and said as such to me. I couldn't help but grin and thank him.

"Alastair will pick from one of the twenty trials that the champion of the War of the Scars undertook." Champion of the War of the Scars? That seemed a bit grand, but I guessed "Darren Shan" had been an important figurehead or something. Arrow listed the trials available for all to hear. The Blooded Boars, The Aquatic Maze, The Hall of Flames...

I really was hoping beyond hope that I would not get The Hall of Flames as my trial. Any of the other ones - even ones I hadn't heard of before that sounded pretty menacing - would be a better choice. Once the bag which the trials would be drawn from had been checked, I fished in and picked up one of the stones.

"Number one! The Final Voyage!" I was relieved that it wasn't The Hall of Flames, but judging from Kreeva shaking his head, something told me this trial would be even worse.


	16. Before the Final Voyage

Hey everyone! Sorry about lateness of the update, I was reeeal busy, but now I'm not, so enjoy!

The Final Voyage. The next trial. This trial was made with "Darren Shan's" journey down the mountain river leading out of the Hall of Final Voyage. I would have to travel down the mountain and survive, where at the bottom some Vampires would fish me out.

I cursed my fates after being told what the trial entailed. I went into a daydream where I attempted the trial and was brutally killed when I smashed against a jagged rock. Then I imgained myself in the Hall of Flames getting burnt to a crisp. As far as I could see, the Hall of Flames was the lesser of the two evils.

On the plus side, Kreeva had softened up a little in terms of rigourous training, and I was thankful. He was still pissed that I'd talked against him, and promised me that the usual training would resume after this one: he was just easing up on me as he didn't want to waste his time and energy on someone who was going to die. My right arm still felt useless, and Blaine had told me that it wouldn't be functional for the rest of the trials.

"You were a fool for doubting my methods." Kreeva said as we made our way to a practise river. I willed myself not to talk back, as I really needed his help for this trial. "Had you not spoken up, the remaining trials would have been a breeze. Thanks to your disrespect, your right arm will not be of any use to you for the rest of the trials, and you have been given the one trial that you cannot succeed in. I shall do my best, but I do not believe that you will be able to pull through."

"I thought Vampires didn't want their fellow Vampires to fail," I blurted out. I cursed as I realised that I had, but Kreeva ignored my comment and we walked on.

We practised in a very controlled environment for this trial. While the Final Voyage was gruelling, if I completed it, I would receive a week in which to recover, which I wasn't about to complain about! At first all I did was slide down a small river, and it felt like a theme park ride. Then we moved on to a larger river with jutting rocks which I was never completely able to avoid.

"Tuck your legs and arms in," Kreeva told me monotonously. "Therefore you make yourself less of a target." This kind of helped, but I was still getting scraped by the rocks.

After a few hours, Kreeva went off to get some food. Going in to the Hall of Khledon Lurt, I found Michael strumming the guitar we had brought to the Mountain. Surrounding him were a bunch of interested Vampires, and I smiled as I listened to the Guitar. It seemed like ages had passed since I'd last been able to play. I got some food and ate while focusing on the music that was playing, until it was rudely interrupted.

"MICHAEL!! THERE YOU ARE!!" The crowd parted and I saw Sam racing up to Michael. "I've been looking all over for you!"

"Oh. What for?"

"Vampire General enrollment! C'mon!"

"Sam, I..."

"C'MON!" Sam started dragging Michael away, but he wrenched his hand free from hers. He was angry now.

"Why do you want me to become a General so much?? Much as I admire them, I don't want to be cooped up in a bloody mountain!" Sam would not give up.

"You're just saying that! Now let's go!" I decided at this point to help out.

"Michael can't become a Vampire General." Sam looked at me, absolutely steaming.

"Why not?" She hissed. I knew I'd have to be very careful.

"We made a promise that once I had finished my trials, we would visit someone."

"Who?"

"That's confidential." Sam screeched and walked off. The crowd had already started to disperse as I went over to Michael.

"Thanks," Michael said sounding tired. "That should buy some time."

"No problem." I replied. "Where have you been all this time? I haven't seen you in a while."

"I've been educating Vampires in guitar playing. I must admit, I hadn't expected many of them to want to play, but some of them already did and were ecstatic about having one on the mountain. One of them had tears in their eyes!" Michael played a bit of a tune on the guitar before returning to the conversation. "So how goes the trials? I missed hearing what your latest trial was."

"The Final Voyage." I muttered. Michael turned white.

"Well, that's...Kreeva should..."

"It's okay. Kreeva didn't rate my chances of success very high either."

"Hey! I believe in you! Cheesy as anything, I know, but you need someone who's supportive."

"Thanks Michael." I paused as I thought of something. "What are we going to do when I finish the trials?"

"Oh yeah! Becky, Max and I had talked about us all travelling together for a bit. That sound okay to you?"

"Sounds great!" Then my face fell. "I'll just have to survive this first."

The rest of my training passed in a blur, mainly because Kreeva's next part of the training involved hitting me with rocks. I failed to see how this would help (even though Kreeva had told me it would build up my pain threshold I think he'd made that excuse up on the spot) and by the end of it I had bruises on most of my body - except for the head, thankfully.

Images of my brutal end kept flashing up, and I was constantly wondering if I was going to survive. Not only that, I was thinking of the past more than ever. What had happened to the rest of my class? Were they still alive? Cameron, Adam, Colin...all my friends, were they OK? I couldn't face hearing the rest of that story about the horrible fate of my school friends, so I simply decided that I'd find someone to talk to so that I could take my mind off of things. The only person I could find was Max, but neither of us brought up the past. After talking for a little bit, I was about to leave when I found Sam blocking my way.

"I don't like you at all," she said. "You're giving Michael more reasons not to become a General than ever! Luckily for me, your next trial is the one that no-one has completed so far!"

"No-one?" I didn't want to rise to the bait, but I couldn't help it.

"No-one." She grinned smugly, before walking off. I returned to my coffin, my dreams haunted by the reinforced view that I would not survive.


	17. The Carriers

Hello. Sorry about the long delay, there was a lot of stuff going on that ate up most of my time. Before we begin this part, it occured to me that only having one perspective in this "fiction" means that any time I'm in danger you know I'll pull through, so I've asked around and a few other people who you've seen already are going to chip in with their perspectives of events. Not only is this important to the events that are about to occur, but now there's less certainty of who will survive. You can tell when the narrator changes when this happens: 

---Max--- 

I've stalled enough, so enjoy this chapter... 

---Alastair--- 

I woke up shivering with worry as Sam's words echoed through my head. No-one has ever survived this trial. My head started to spin and I felt as though I was going to throw up, but thankfully kept my body in check. I went to try and find some familiar faces in the Hall of Khledon Lurt, realising that so far I hadn't had breakfast on the day of any of my trials! The only person I recognised was Blaine, so I sat down with him while he ate. 

"Morning," Blaine grunted as he ate. I could tell from his barely open eyes that he wasn't a morning person. "Ready for your trial?" 

"I guess," I responded. "Doesn't really help that no-one's cleared this trial before." Blaine paused and looked at me. 

"People have passed the trial before you." I perked up at that. 

"Really?" 

"Sure. What trial are you taking again?" 

"The Final Voyage." Blaine shrugged. 

"Oh. My mistake." He went back to eating his food. 

"Wait. That's it?" Blaine rolled his eyes and looked at me. 

"Can I just finish eating, please?" I didn't know what to say to that, so I wandered slowly but surely to my next trial, where hopefully I'd find people who could allay my fears, not make them worse! 

Before too long I found myself in the Hall of Final Voyage. Becky and Michael were there, but there was no sign of Max, and I wasn't going to actively look for Blaine at this point. Arrow was there to oversee the trials, and after dealing with the formalities I felt the eyes of everyone there burning into me as I stared down at the rushing water, willing myself to jump. Finally I tensed my body and jumped into the freezing waters. 

What did I sign myself in for?? My right arm felt like it was going to explode with pain as it connected with rocks, and the rest of my body was faring no better. I tried tucking myself into a ball like Kreeva had suggested, but while this had worked in practise, I now found myself cannonballing into sharp rocks, and soon had to abandon that tactic. 

Air was another problem. I was never that good at holding my breath and as I kept trying to break the surface of the water to breathe, I wish I had tried to learn. More often than not I'd get a second or two of air before being sucked back under the water and moved with the current. I continued to look at my right arm when I had a free moment - almost never - to see if it was cut, though thankfully the water was cold enough that any wounds I had wouldn't bleed. 

Just when I thought things couldn't get worse the pace quickened, the rocks got sharper and before I knew it pain was circulating my entire body. I tried to exert some kind of control over my collisions, but that was a bad judgement on my part as it drained me of strength, and before I knew it I had blacked out. 

I woke up expecting one of two things: either I was dead or there would be some vampires tending to me. When I found the strength to open my eyes I found that my fate had fallen into neither of these categories and I was still drifting along with the river. I tried to use my arms to grab at the edges, remembering too late that my right arm was in agony. Amazingly my left wasn't though my legs felt incredibly numb, which wasn't a good sign. I grabbed again at the sides and held on until I had gathered enough strength to pull myself out of the river - no easy feat with only one arm and two useless legs! I lay at the side for a few minutes before trying to rub some life into my legs. Feeling returned after a tense few minutes. My left leg was fine, but my right was in incredible pain. I breathed deeply and attempted to stand up, growling and then gritting my teeth to the pain before hobbling upstream to find out why I hadn't been pulled out. 

I found the Vampires that were supposed to fish me out. All three of them were dead. 

The worst part was how they had been killed. If it was a bear attack maybe it wouldn't have been so bad, but I found bulletholes through all three vampires' skulls! I scanned my surroundings as best I could, trying to listen out for any sounds. When I heard none I knelt by the side of one of the deceased and paid my respects. It was then that I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder, then I passed out. 

"Rise and shine, carrier!" Slowly creaking open my eyelids I found myself in a small cave with four men and a woman. Three of the men were polishing sniper rifles - which clarified the deaths of my comrades instantly - the remaining man was looking at me, and the woman was looking to my right. Turning, I saw Max tied up! My head started spinning at this. Who were these people? How did they get here? Were they human? Before I could think of any reasonable answers the man spoke. 

"You took your time coming to, carrier." I frowned. Carrier? The man ignored this. "You should count yourselves lucky. We were going to kill you until we thought of a better way to use you." I tried to look at Max to see his reaction, but the man intercepted. "I'M talking to you, carrier. Now you listen and listen well. 

"All of us have suffered at the hands of you. Many people we knew and loved are dead. So now it's our turn to repay the favour. I'm going to release your friend here, and he's going to go back to Vampire Mountain and say that some Vampire Hunters had found and killed the three by the river and you. Meanwhile you're going to be coming with us. Is that clear?" 

"What are you talking about?" I muttered. Vampires had killed their loved ones? What was going on? The man wasn't really interested in answering my questions though. 

"Are you clear about our plans?" He growled. I nodded, still unsure of the situation. Had I been in better shape I'd have tried to escape, but in my current state I was helpless. The woman untied Max and guided him towards the cave entrance. From Max's movements it seemed as though he had been drugged, and my suspicions were confirmed when the woman spoke. 

"The effects will wear off in a few hours. If you're smart, you'll head straight back to vampire mountain. If anyone tries to interfere with us, the boy dies and we'll come back for a killing spree. Are we clear?" Max didn't seem to register what was going on, so simply gave a slow nod. The woman released him and he made his way back to Vampire Mountain. 

---Max--- 

My mind was really in the clouds as I walked back to Vampire Mountain. I was vaguely aware that I knew the other hostage in that cave, but my mind was fuzzy and would only tell me to get to... 

I stopped as I realised that I couldn't remember where Vampire mountain was! I grinned like an idiot as though it was the funniest thing in the world and started walking again. After a few minutes my brain felt like it was a radio being tuned. Me at school...becoming a vampire...being a carrier... 

I smiled at that and patted my belly as I remembered the conversation I'd had with the nice woman. Vampires were starting to contract a disease, a contagious one. She didn't know where it came from or whether it only affected Vampires and Vampeneze but she did say it was deadly...and...and... 

I shook my head very fast and picked up my pace, continuing to pat my stomach, not knowing whether or not I was holding a deadly virus inside of me that could spread to the far corners of Vampire Mountain. 


	18. Difficult Truths

Wow. Can you say delay or can you say delay? Thankfully with the Christmas holidays I'll be able to update much more frequently than I was before. I'd also like to give a big hand to Lady Myotismon who wrote Becky's point of view. Sorry about the wait Lady Myotismon and any of you reading! Now, back to the action...

---Becky---

My brother, Michael, is really close to his assistant, Alastair. I think that's why I blooded Max. In my head, I saw myself playing guitar with Max,traveling the country with him, and having fun in the Halls of Sport together.But it ended up that we didn't have much in common, and I didn't spend much time with him outside of meals. I never felt guilty about the distance between us, not until I got the news that he and Alastair, along with a few other vampires, had disappeared.I had no idea how long I spent guilt tripping myself. Not once did I venture outside of the mountain, so I don't know how many hours or days passed. The Halls were all buzzing with rumors and speculation, and the Princes feared that the Vampaneze had made a surprise attack, or that vampire hunters had found the mountain. No one I spoke to offered me any condolence, and I couldn't possibly talk to Michael about this. Max's disappearance upset me, so I couldn't imagine how bad Michael must have felt. I learned of Max's disappearance from something I overheard in the hallway. I learned of his return in the same way.

I had been walking up to the Hall of Khledon Lurt for a meal when a vampire ran past me to catch up with a vampire at the end of the hall.

"One of the missing half-vampires has returned! The word is, there was an attack by vampire hunters!" I didn't even bother to ask who had returned, I just spun around and flitted to the Hall of Princes, where a crowd was already gathered at the doors.

"What happened?" I asked of the nearest vampire. He didn't look happy when he told me,

"One of the missing has returned. There's rumors of an attack, possibly by vampire hunters."

"Who came back?" I muttered, not really wanting to know the answer because I knew either way I would be upset.

"One of the half-vampires. I think his name is Max," he replied. A weight lifted on my heart, but it was only a small change. What had happened to Alastair? I backed up against the wall and sunk down onto the floor, tears in my eyes, but I was determined not to cry. I wondered if Michael knew, and sent him a mental message, not revealing any emotion. He was at my side within a minute, and the grim look on my face probably told him everything. I had barely started telling him what I knew when the door opened and Max stepped out. He looked different, half dead. The crowd closed in around him, eager to ask questions. I called out his name and ran forward, pushing the crowd aside, arms opened and ready to greet him with a hug.

---Max---

I'd been in the Hall of Princes for a few hours. Eventually after walking in the cold for a few hours my memories came flooding back to me and I was able to make my way back to Vampire Mountain, silent tears marking my path. What could I do? Alastair had been taken, there was nothing I could do, and supposedly the entire Vampire clan - as well as the Vampaneze were doomed. I was carrying the virus and slowly but surely bringing it to Vampire Mountain. Why? Several times I considered turning back and leaving but the last thing I wanted was for some Vampires to be sent out. The people who took Alastair might think I had told the Vampires the truth and start killing more of them. Even though they were humans they moved with precision that no ordinary human could match. I wanted to check if they were actually part Vampire or Vampaneze but I couldn't think of any way at the time. I might have if they hadn't drugged me! I decided that once I had informed the Princes that I would leave Vampire Mountain and hide somewhere. I only hoped that the virus didn't spread too quickly while I was there.

"You are certain that Vampire Hunters were the cause of our comrades' deaths?" Mika Ver Leth asked, bringing me back to reality. He had asked this question a lot of times already, but I guess he wanted to make sure.

"They had all been shot," I responded. "Only humans can wield guns." Arrow started arguing that it might have been a mad Vampire or Vampaneze, but as there was no proof that theory was quickly dropped. The Generals present started debating, but didn't tell me I could leave, so I had to listen to all of their theories, knowing that not one of them was true. I was desperate to leave but sat on a chair until Arrow remembered that I was there and told me I could leave. I breathed a sigh of relief and slowly walked out of the door. As I made my way to an exit, I heard someone call my name.

"Max!" Looking around I saw Becky and Michael running towards me. Becky gave me a hug while I stood there, then looked me in the eye and asked, "Is it true? About Alastair and the others?" I returned her gaze.

"It's true. They're dead." Becky and Michael stood there. I said nothing more and walked away from them, an idea forming in my mind. I was going to leave Vampire Mountain.

---Becky---

At first, Max's news had me confused and worried and sick. I was really too stunned to be curious. But as the shock wore off, I felt the need to know exactly what happened. Without telling Michael, I went to Max's room to find him, only to see an empty bed. I asked several vampires if they knew where Max was, however I quickly learned that Max hadn't been seen since his interrogation in the Hall of Princes. Though no one else assumed anything from it, I knew. Max had left the mountain!

I was now suspicious and angry. I knew there had to be more of the story than he was telling me. Why else would he have left the mountain? I decided to try and follow him, knowing that it was probably impossible to find him on such a huge mountain, but knowing I had to at least try, and I had to force the truth out of him. At first I searched for anything – footprints, broken branches – any sign of which direction he had gone. But I wasn't very familiar with nature, not as much as some other vampires were, so that was getting me nowhere. So I started flitting in every direction, trying to cover as much land as possible. Flitting up and down the mountain was difficult, and probably the main reason no one ever did it. But eventually, panting for breath and beginning to feel hopeless, I spotted something on the horizon.

"Max!" I yelled. I caught up to him and grabbed him rather violently by the arm. "You're a liar," I snapped, frustrated partially because of his dishonesty but mostly because of my exhaustion. "Tell the truth. You're hurting everyone by keeping the facts from them." Max stared at me, his eyes were sorry.

"I'm putting everyone in danger by staying there." This didn't make sense to me, and I jumped to conclusions.

"Are you responsible for what happened?"

"No!" he cried. "I wouldn't hurt Alastair." The fire in him died down immediately, and his face was melancholy once more. "You wouldn't understand. You wouldn't believe me. But I need to leave."

"Try me," I said. He was trying to walk away, but I kept a firm grip on his arm.

"Becky," he pleaded, but then embraced me. I let go and held him tightly, to hug him and to make sure he wouldn't try to leave again. "The people with guns…they weren't normal Vampire Hunters. They told me about a virus. Alastair and I have it."

"Are you dying?" I asked, afraid of his answer.

"No. I don't know. All I know is I'm a threat to everyone," Max said.

"I've never heard of anything like that, Max… Are you sure they weren't lying?" I wondered, skeptical.

"Why risk it? I've got to leave. I don't know where I can go… but maybe I can find a cure, or maybe I can go find where the people with the guns took Alastair, and get more information from them," Max said. He let go of me and started to turn. I snatched his arm and pulled him toward me once more.

"They took Alastair? He's not dead?"

"He was alive when they took him," Max replied. I was filled with hope.

"Max! We've got to find him! We have to go tell Michael! We can find Alastair and then find a cure for the virus. You don'thave to leave! Come on!" I exclaimed, and started pulling him back up themountain, already sending an eager message to Michael.

---Alastair---

"All right, Carrier. You sit yourself here." I sat down gratefully and looked around at my captives. I still knew nothing about my captives, and I doubted they would tell me. I didn't even know where we were going or why. All I knew was that I was a prisoner, and despite my superior reflexes, I didn't fancy my chances against all of them at once. Even with only one or two, I had no idea what they were capable of, so for the time being I was content to wait and try and find out more about my title of "Carrier". I'd been lost in my thoughts but the sound of the woman coughing jolted me back and I realised that only the woman and one of the men was looking after me. I assumed that the others were checking the area or something similar and decided to try and discover the meaning of the mystery term.

"What's a carrier?" The man and woman seemed startled at me asking them a question, but recovered quickly and picked up their weapons.

"Who told you to talk?" The man whispered in a tone of voice that chilled me to the bone. He glanced at the woman. "Think he really doesn't know?" The woman edged closer to me and looked straight into my eyes.

"Look at me and tell me you don't know what a Carrier is." Her voice sounded hardened, and her eyes were cold. I stared back at her.

"I don't know what a Carrier is." She kept her gaze for a few more seconds.

"He's telling the truth," she muttered to the man. "Okay. Let's keep this short. You creatures of the night have started contracting a disease. We don't know its origins, but we do know that full Vampires and Vampaneze won't be killed by it. They "carry" the disease and pass it on."

"But I'm not a..."

"Don't interrupt. Half-vampires and half-Vampaneze are also Carriers. They can die, but it takes a lot longer than it does for humans. Humans can only get the disease...and die."

"Aren't you putting yourself in danger by being near me?" I asked.

"We're already infected. Slowly each day our bodies waste away. It takes six long slow months for it to kill a human, but it will kill us. Guarenteed. As for people like you..." She paused and looked at her surroundings before facing me again. "...you have a year left. Enjoy it while it lasts."


End file.
